Six more Ireland players are off on their travels this weekend for T20 franchise action, this time bound for the sunny climes of Florida.
 
Captain Andrew Balbirnie, Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker are all taking part in the eight-team US Open, which starts on Monday and continues until December 13.
 
Paul Stirling and Josh Little have been playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 League for the last 10 days and both their sides are through to the final four.
 
Stirling’s New York Strikers side, captained by Kieron Pollard, finished the group stage in first place so have two chances to reach tomorrow’s final, while Deccan Gladiators, with Little opening the bowling, finished fourth and play in the Eliminator match this afternoon for a place in the second semi-final.
 
Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that Amy Hunter will captain the Ireland Women’ s side at next month’s inaugural Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.
 
Hunter and Georgina Dempsey are the only full internationals but there are four other Ulster girls in the 15-player squad, Abbi Harrison of Waringstown, Jennifer Jackson and Zara Craig of Eglinton and Kia McCartney of Coleraine.
 
Ireland will be in a group with Indonesia, New Zealand and West Indies and a top three finish will send them through to the Super Six Round when teams will be pooled into two groups of six, ahead of the semi-finals and final.
 
The squad leave on New Year's Day for a training camp in Pretoria and will play two official warm-up games on January 9 and 11 against Pakistan and Namibia respectively before their first group game on January 15 in Potchefstroom.
 
Squad: A Hunter (Instonians, capt), Z Craig (Eglinton), A Harrison (Waringstown, J Jackson (Eglinton), K McCartney (Coleraine), S Wood, G Dempsey, R Gough, J Loughran, N McNulty, A Maguire, E McGee, J McNally, F Sargent, A Squires. Non-travelling reserves: A Fisher (CSN), A Walsh (Clontarf).