Highlights
- Craig Young has played 53 T20Is and scalped 55 wickets for Ireland
- Graham Hume has been named as a replacement for Young
- Hume has played in only one T20I match
Ireland have been dealt a huge blow in their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia as speedster Craig Young is ruled out of the tournament with a chronic injury issue. This news comes on a bad note as the experienced campaigner will now be part of the treatment table while 31-year-old Graham Hume will come in as a replacement. Hume has played in only one T20I match so far and made his international debut in June.
Young will be returning to Ireland for further assessment while Hume will be flying immediately to Australia to benefit from Ireland's two warm-up matches.
"Unfortunately, whilst out in Sydney for our T20 World Cup prep camp, Craig experienced a recurrence of a chronic issue which we have been managing for quite some time," Mark Rausa, Head of Physiotherapy and Medical Services at Cricket Ireland said.
"Whilst we thought we were on top of the issue, it sadly flared up once we arrived in Sydney and began training. Craig will now return home for an assessment with our medical specialists to plan out his rehab."
Ireland belong to Group B in the T20 World Cup and begin their campaign on 17 October against Zimbabwe in Hobart. Prior to their main matches in the first round, they will play two warm-up games – against Namibia on the 11th and against Sri Lanka on the 13th in Melbourne. The team departs for Melbourne on 9 October.
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Ireland participated in the 2021 edition of the tournament but were unable to qualify for the Super 12 stage after finishing third in their group. Top two teams from the two first round groups will make it to the next stage.
Ireland's T20 World Cup squad: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Paul Stirling (vc), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Graham Hume
