Dublin, Sep 8 (IANS) Wicketkeeper-batter Ben Calitz has received a maiden call-up to Ireland’s squad for T20Is against England, starting on September 17. All games of the three-match series will be held at the Malahide Cricket Ground.

The series will also mark the first time Ireland will a T20I against England at home. The two sides have only met twice in the T20I format – the first match in 2010 being a no result, while the second meeting came in 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Melbourne, where Ireland won by five runs (via DLS method).

Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher and Craig Young are available to play after coming through the Emerald Challenge series. But Mark Adair, Fionn Hand and Josh Little are still working through rehabilitation programmes for their respective injuries and are unavailable.

Calitz was born in Vancouver, Canada and moved to Ireland in 2022. He has represented Canada at Under-19 leve, and played club cricket with Holywood CC, Muckamore CC and presently, with Lisburn CC.

In 2024 he played for Munster Reds in the Inter-Provincial Series, then represented Northern Knights in 2025. In April 2025, Calitz was selected for the Ireland Wolves tour to UAE.

“While it’s unfortunate that Mark (Adair), Fionn (Hand) and Josh (Little) are not available, this series will give several other members of the bowling group the chance to step up and challenge for World Cup spots. While we have excellent cover at the top of the order, it is the middle order batting where we are looking to increase our depth.”

“As part of this focus, we welcome Ben Calitz into the squad – who gives us a left-handed batting option, as well as wicketkeeping cover – and Jordan Neill returns as cover for Mark Adair, as he did in the West Indies ODI series earlier this summer before injury cut his debut short,” said Andrew White, National Men’s Selector.

The third match of the series on September 21 has been sold out, with Friday’s game on September 19 also nearing sell-out, thus highlighting the interest in Irish fans about seeing their side face a strong England line-up, captained by Jacob Bethell.

“While every match against England is a special occasion, this series takes on extra importance given we are less than six months out from the next T20 World Cup (which will be played in India and Sri Lanka). These matches against England offer us an opportunity to test ourselves against one of the world’s best teams as we build-up to that tournament.”

“As it stands, we are set to play as many T20I matches in the next five months as we have already played in this cycle to date, but we’ll transition to Asian and Middle East venues to better prepare the squad for conditions they will likely face on the subcontinent,” added White.

Ireland squad: Paul Stirling (captain), Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Barry McCarthy, Jordan Neil, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White and Craig Young

–IANS

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