LIGHTNING SQUAD FOR IPs ANNOUNCED

The following players have been announced as the selected Sherwin O'Riordan sponsored Leinster Lightning IP squad for the 2023 season:

Simi Singh (North County), Andrew Balbirnie (Pembroke), Lorcan Tucker (Pembroke), Harry Tector (YMCA), George Dockrell (Phoenix), Tim Tector (YMCA), Greg Ford (Balbriggan), Gavin Hoey (Dublin University), Barry McCarthy (Pembroke), Fionn Hand (Clontarf), Reuben Wilson (YMCA), Josh Little (Pembroke), Mikey O'Reilly (Dublin University).

*David Delany is currently in Australia and his IP commitments are as yet unclear, however there is regular contact between himself and the head coach regarding how his season might map out.

Nigel Jones, head coach of Leinster Lightning, said:

“I've been really pleased with our preparations to date. I certainly can't fault the lads in terms of their effort and commitment this winter. We also had a number of lads that were away playing club cricket in the Southern Hemisphere and in Asia this winter period, which has been great for them and their development.

“We're always keen to try and push those opportunities for our players as much as we can. You couple this with the guys that are away representing Ireland throughout the winter and it means we have a fairly large number of guys active, either from a playing point of view or a training point of view, which is good. It helps us form some decisions coming into springtime and given the restructuring business of the Inter-Pro squads and players out playing in other teams as well, it's important that we're quite clear from our point of view who we want to back and put time into.

“I try to create an environment where we look at what we can control and not get too hung up on what we can't. Players trying to be as clear as they can about where the games are at and what they need to do to work on things, to try and get some improvements and ultimately be able to therefore turn that into performances when they get on the park, whether that be in their club environments, the Under 23 District competition, the Future Series environment, or the Lightning team.

“We also have a number of guys that play in the Ireland set up and we've seen their development within the last three to four years as well, and it's been really pleasing to see them go on and contribute for Ireland. And also, whenever they're back playing for the Leinster Lightning team, the other guys that are leading the way and the younger blokes are able to learn off them. We're at a stage now with the restructuring that we're looking at a far greater pool of players within Leinster, and that can only be a good thing.

“As a coach, it's finding that balance between opportunities for some younger guys and also making sure that we're out in the park winning games of cricket as much as we can, and representing a proud province which I know the boys are all very keen to continue to do.”

"And finally, as Head Coach, I want to thank James Sherwin & David O'Riordan of Sherwin O'Riordan Solicitors who have come on-board as the new Leinster Lightning sponsor over the next two years - this support for the development of high performance cricket in Leinster is hugely appreciated by me and all the players. We will do our best to represent the Lightning & SOR brands with pride and passion."

The overall Fixture schedule for 2023 is as follows:

* Start time is dependent on additional 30 mins being used in morning match

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