ICC T20 World Cup (2026): Ireland squad announced

[Cricket Warrior]

Ireland have announced their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Sri Lanka and India.

The team's highest run-getter in the format, Paul Stirling will be at the helm once again with Lorcan Tucker as his deputy.

12 members of the 15 announced for the mega event featured in its previous edition as well, with new additions such as Tim Tector, Ben Calitz and Matthew Humphreys to the unit.

This will be Ireland's ninth appearance at the marquee tournament with the best performance coming in the years 2009 and 2022 when they qualified to the second round wherein they also defeated former champions - West Indies and England.

Ireland National Men's selector Andrew White is looking forward to an improved version of the team in a highly competitive tournament.

Squad: ⁠Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young

Ireland name squad for T20 World Cup 2026 | ICC Men's T20 World Cup, 2026 | ICC

Paul Stirling will lead the 15-member unit in their ninth appearance of the marquee event.

www.icc-cricket.com

 

[Hawkeye]

Is Ireland cricket functional?

Where do they practice and play domestic games, is there any domestic competitive cricket structure there?

Which clubs or ground I mean.

@Donal Cozzie or anyone else knows?

 

[sweep_shot]

Ireland should beat Oman and Zimbabwe.

If they can upset one from Australia and SL, they can make it to Super 8.

Need 3 wins probably.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Skipper grounded as Ireland wait on scans for Stirling

Ireland are waiting for scans to confirm the severity of the knee injury suffered by skipper Paul Stirling at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Stirling hurt his right knee when completing a catch early in Ireland's 67-run loss to Australia in Colombo on Wednesday and aggravated it even further when he attempted to bat during the unsuccessful run chase.

It forced Stirling to retire hurt as the team lost for the second consecutive occasion at the T20 World Cup and batting coach Gary Wilson confirmed the experienced captain had been sent for scans after the match.

"It doesn't look great," Wilson said.

"He went for a scan this evening, so we'll have to wait for confirmation. But yeah, I would say it doesn't look ideal."

Wilson was pushed on why Stirling had came out to bat during Ireland's run chase and the assistant coach said the captain wanted to lead from the front.

"I think credit to him that he knew going out there that he was probably not quite right and he still tried to go out there and get the job done for the team," Wilson noted.

"As I said, unfortunately it wasn't to be tonight."

Ireland will now likely require victories in their remaining two group fixtures against Oman and Zimbabwe to reach the next phase and Wilson said the side hadn't given up hope of picking up two wins and moving through to the Super Eights.

The coach suggested the team had shown plenty of positives across their first two matches and there was much to look forward to across their remaining fixtures.

"That was why the other day (against Sri Lanka) was so disappointing because actually for 65-70 percent of that game I thought we were the better side," Wilson added.

"It was just the last five overs of their innings and the last five overs of our innings, and we just couldn't quite put the full game together.

"But there's a lot of talent in that dressing room and a huge amount of belief from us as coaches to them and we have played the two best teams in our group so far. So we've also got two games to come there. They're hugely important for us."

Ireland will next be in action against Oman in Colombo on Saturday.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Ireland should beat Oman and Zimbabwe.

If they can upset one from Australia and SL, they can make it to Super 8.

Need 3 wins probably.

Zimbabwe's seam attack is one of the best in the tournament.

Ireland will find it tough. They should comfortable beat Oman

 

[BouncerGuy]

Injury forces Ireland to replace captain in T20 World Cup squad

Ireland have suffered a major blow with news that skipper Paul Stirling has suffered ligament damage to his knee and will miss the remainder of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Stirling hurt his right knee when completing a catch during Ireland's 67-run loss to Australia on Wednesday and the experienced captain aggravated it once again when he went for a quick single when returning to the crease to bat in the same match.

reland skipper Paul Stirling goes full stretch to dismiss the set Australia batter Josh Inglis at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

The T20 World Cup Event Technical Committee have approved a replacement player for Stirling, with uncapped youngster Sam Topping joining Ireland's 15-player squad with immediate effect.

Topping is a left-handed opening batter who last year featured for Ireland A in their four-day match against Afghanistan A in Abu Dhabi.

Australia begin their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a dominant victory over Ireland by 67 runs.

Ireland's Director of High Performance Graeme West said it was a bitter blow to lose Stirling's experience, though he has high hopes for Topping as a replacement.

“Paul Stirling underwent an assessment and a scan after the Australian match which has subsequently revealed ligament damage – as such, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup. Paul will shortly return home for rest and rehabilitation, ahead of the home summer," West said.

“To replace Paul, we have called up Sam Topping, who is able to provide immediate cover as he is a short flight away in Chennai. Sam has been with the Northern Knights training squad and has been playing and training in similar conditions to Sri Lanka. The skill set he offers provides cover across a number of areas within the squad, which is important as Ben Calitz is also carrying a knock to his hand after the last match.”

Ireland will next be in action against Oman in Colombo on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have also been forced into a squad alteration of their own, with Ben Curran coming into the 15-player group for injured veteran Brendon Taylor.

ICC