England will rotate heavily for a three-game ODI series against Ireland that begins at Headingley on Wednesday.
With the 50-over World Cup on the horizon only Joe Root has been made available from the squad that is travelling to India for that tournament, with the former Test captain to play in the first ODI only.
- England to win 3-0
- Matthew Potts top England wicket-taker
- Andrew Balbirnie top Ireland batter
WATCH IN THE ZONE - JASON ROBINSON
Hosts Favourites For Easy Win
England got the better of New Zealand 3-1 in their recent ODI series and while the hosts will be making plenty of changes for this series against Ireland, their strength in depth is one of their key attributes in white-ball cricket.
England have won eight of their last 10 meetings with Ireland in all formats and should be able to secure a comfortable series win this time around.
Ireland had a good spell over the summer as they got the better of many of the lesser teams on the international stage in T20 World Cup qualifiers.
However, when facing bigger nations, the Irish have struggled and they were beaten by Scotland before losing back-to-back matches against India in August.
Despite England’s rotation, they still have the class edge on their opponents and will have a number of players hungry to prove themselves to the selectors.
Potts To Seize Opportunity
With Stuart Broad retiring and Jimmy Anderson coming towards the end of his career, there will soon be plenty of opportunities for England’s young seamers to step up on the Test stage.
One player with a big chance of doing so is Durham’s Matthew Potts, who has looked like one of the country’s most progressive young talents in recent years.
A key reason why his county were promoted back to the top flight this season, Potts has taken 35 wickets in his last seven first class matches.
While he has had fewer opportunities to demonstrate his value in white-ball cricket, this will be his second ODI for his country and he has all the tools to be a crucial player in these games.
Potts looks a big runner for the crown of top English wicket taker in the series.
MATTHEW POTTS TOP WICKET TAKER
Balbirnie To Lead The Way
There have not been a huge amount of positives to take from Ireland’s recent performances but one of them has been the batting of Andrew Balbirnie.
The former one-day and T20 captain, who still leads the Test team, has an ODI average of 32.30, hitting 15 half-centuries and eight 100s in this format.
Balbirnie has three 50s in his last nine outings for his nation along with an unbeaten knock of 45 in that run of games, with a best of 72 in Ireland’s T20 defeat at the hands of India last time out.
A repeat of that form throughout this series gives him a solid chance of being top batter for his country.
ANDREW BALBIRNIE TOP IRELAND BATTER
