McClintock and Kennedy named in Ireland squad
The NWCU is delighted at this morning’s news that William McClintock and Graham Kennedy have both been named in the Ireland men’s senior squad for the upcoming series against South Africa.
Their addition brings the number of North West Warriors players in the panel up to six- William Porterfield, Shane Getkate, Craig Young and Andy McBrine also included against the Proteas.
McClintock, along with Getkate and Young (who is selected for both squads) is in the T20 panel while Kennedy joins Porterfield and McBrine in the ODI squad.
It’s a huge hat-tip to Gary Wilson and the selectors and coaching staff involved with the Warriors who have put in a lot of work over the last couple of months.
‘GK’ has already featured with the Ireland Wolves and travelled with the senior squad to Holland earlier this year, and this is a reward for the way in which the former Ballyspallen man has progressed in the past couple of season.
McClintock’s call up is superb news for the player and for the club game in the North West. Still just 24, William along with his twin Gary and William McBrine had won five Senior Cup medals with Donemana by the time he was 19.
There was never any doubting his talent but unavailability hindered his progress within the Ireland set-up. Warriors Head Coach Wilson sat down with the player- a man he referred to as ‘the cleanest hitter of a cricket ball you will ever see’-at the start of this season. The results since then speak for themselves as McClintock has been thriving on this new-found freedom to play his own brand of cricket.
And now he has found himself called into the senior Irish squad within a couple of months of his return to Interprovincial competition. It is a fantastic opportunity for a player that everyone knows belongs at this level.
All within the NWCU wish to extend our congratulations to William, Graham and all of our players selected for this series. We will certainly be following that with even more interest next month.
Ireland squad in full is:
ODI squad
• Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, William Porterfield, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
T20I squad
• Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, William McClintock, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
The North West Warriors are sponsored by Fleming-Agri whose logo will appear on the new playing kit and on advertising boards around the boundary. The support of Fleming-Agri is hugely appreciated by Warriors players, coaches and the NWCU.
