LEINSTER BOLTS SQUAD ANNOUNCED FOR ‘FUTURE SERIES’ (14.6.2021)

The Leinster Lightning today announce an extended 18-man Bolts panel to take part in the first edition of the Cricket Ireland Future Series.

This is a new tournament to provide competitive action for those on the talent pathways and with aspirations of playing senior InterProvincial and international cricket. The Bolts squad will be looking to make their mark and put their hands up for selection for the main Lightning team and beyond.

Ideally this competition would be a pre-cursor to the senior InterPros but after a particularly challenging year for planning, it is fantastic for the players to get the opportunity to play at this level.

“We’ve got some exciting talent, a number of whom have had exposure with the Lightning group already this season including Jamie Grassi and David O’Halloran to name a couple,” says Head Coach Nigel Jones.

“We’ve also got some guys listed in the Munster Reds squad currently who are obviously an important part of the Leinster pathway given where they play their club cricket. It’s something we really value, continually monitoring their development and opportunities that may come along with the senior Lightning squad in seasons to come.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do when we get into the fixtures with four T20s and four 45-over games.”

With a reasonably large squad named, Jones will hope to give opportunity to as many players as possible throughout the eight matches of the Future Series (four T20 and Four 45-over matches), however giving everyone lots of chances won’t be an easy task. Not to mention the youngsters who will feel unlucky to have missed out.

“We’ll be continuing to watch how they all go,” says Jones, “and it’s certainly not a closed door in terms of the squad we’ve listed. James Newland has not been selected despite making the Lightning squads at the beginning of the season. Work commitments are a factor and we’ve a good knowledge of James’ capability and where his cricket ability is at. This is not to say that an opportunity won’t arise during the Future Series this season, but we will continue to work with Jimmy at the training ground fir the moment.”

There are also talented young players that have come through the Leinster system but are unavailable to the Bolts as they will be playing for the Ireland Under 19s in this competition, Tim Tector (YMCA) and Nathan McGuire (Rush) fall into this category.

The Leinster Lightning Bolts will open the Future Series competition with T20 fixture against the Ireland Under 19s at Oak Hill on Monday 28 June.

Leinster Lightning (including the Bolts) is now sponsored by LHW Financial Planning whose logo will appear on the new playing kit - the support of LHW Financial Planning is hugely appreciated by all concerned.

Leinster Bolts for Future Series

Rory Anders (YMCA)
Jack Carty (Merrion)
Mark Donegan (The Hills)
Conor Fletcher (Balbriggan)
Alistair Frost (Malahide)
JJ Garth (Pembroke)
Jamie Grassi (Phoenix)
Fionn Hand (Clontarf)
Gavin Hoey (Dublin University)
Seamus Lynch (Terenure)
David O’Halloran (Malahide)
Mikey O’Reilly (YMCA)
Alan Reynolds (Malahide)
Cameron Shoebridge (Malahide)
Amish Sidhu (Merrion)
Tom Stanton (Merrion)
Mitchell Thompson (YMCA)
Fiachra Tucker (Pembroke)