Ireland make single change

Ireland have made just the one change to their squad of 12 for the Intercontinental Cup fixture with Bermuda which gets under way from August 23-26 at Castle Avenue, Clontarf.

Dominick Joyce replaces the unavailable Eoin Morgan, who has commitments with his county Middlesex - they play Gloucestershire in the LV County Championship, and also have a NatWest Pro40 fixture with Kent.

Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce are both featuring in the current county game against Northamptonshire, and they experienced fluctuating fortunes on the third day. Joyce hit 107 as he shared in a 196-run partnership with Owais Shah, but Morgan departed without scoring.

Phil Simmons is pleased with Ireland's form © Getty Images

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Morgan's replacement, 26-year-old Dominick Joyce has played 69 times for Ireland, scoring 1,518 runs at an average of exactly 23. The right-hander is currently second in the domestic averages in Leinster, averaging over 50.

He has scored 11 half-centuries for Ireland, but has yet to score a century, his highest score being 67 against Wiltshire in 2001.

Ireland coach Phil Simmons said of his squad: "I was pleased with our form during the drawn game with Scotland (Ireland gained nine points by virtue of a first innings lead in the rain-affected game), and we managed to put together two significant partnerships.

“The wicket was fairly placid, so it was a great effort by our bowlers on the first day, but they know they can do better than they showed on day two. Unfortunately we are without Eoin, but I like what I've seen in Dominick - although he's played a lot of cricket for Ireland, he's still only 26, and has his best years as a batsman in front of him."

Stephen Kirkpatrick, head of banking, Bank of Ireland NI added: "I'd like to wish the Irish team every success against Bermuda as they continue their quest to win the trophy for a third successive time. It's been a marvellous year for Irish cricket, and as official team sponsor, Bank of Ireland is proud to be part of it."

Ireland squad: Trent Johnston (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Thinus Fourie, Dominick Joyce, Dave Langford-Smith, Kyle McCallan, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Greg Thompson, William Porterfield, Andrew White