Cricket Ireland will stage a pair of North v South T20 matches in order to help emerging players hoping to make the breakthrough at international level.
Stephen Doheny of Leinster Lightening will captain the Southern selection while Nothern selection will be captained by all-rounder Shane Getkate.
Academy and Performance Manager for Cricket Ireland, Pete Johnston (main pic), is eager to see some of the brightest talents in Irish cricket given the chance to step up from provincial level.
"The more high-level competitive action we can provide for these guys, the better it will be for the future of Irish cricket – go back a few months and we were concerned of losing the entire season, but now we are delighted to be able to arrange these fixtures and continue the development of a group of players that will form the core of our future international squads," said Johnston.
"We have really enjoyed working closely with the Provincial Unions on these games and can not thank all their staff and grounds enough for their collaboration towards getting all of these games up and running."
The first match of the series will be played at Lisburn Cricket Club on Thursday before the sides meet again in Malahide Cricket Club two days later.
Johnston is hopeful that the players who have been given the chance to take part will grab the opportunity with both hands.
"The Northern XII v Southern XII fixtures will likewise provide emerging players across all our provinces with an opportunity to press their case for higher honours," added Johnston.
"We expect this to be a highly competitive series – and continue to provide high-level competitive action that these players would otherwise have missed out on due to the cancellation of National Academy and Youth squad tours due to COVID-19."
The Southern XII match-day squads are:
Southern XII (13 August @ Lisburn)
Stephen Doheny (capt), Seamus Lynch, Jeremy Lawlor, Greg Ford, Tim Tector, Fiachra Tucker, Rory Anders, Mitchell Thompson, Jamie MacNulty, Theo Dempsey, Ben White, Mike Frost.
Southern XII (17 August @ Malahide)
Stephen Doheny (capt), Seamus Lynch, Jeremy Lawlor, Jack Tector, Tim Tector, Fiachra Tucker, Rory Anders, Mitchell Thompson, Jamie MacNulty, Theo Dempsey, Ben White, Mikey O’Reilly.
The Northern XII match day squads are:
Northern XII (13 August @ Lisburn)
Shane Getkate (capt), Ross Adair, Ryan Hunter, James Hunter, Neil Rock, CJ Van Der Walt, Kyle Magee, Ross Allen, Jacob Mulder, Mathew Foster, Conor Olphert, Joshua Manley.
Northern XII (17 August @ Malahide)
Shane Getkate (capt), Ross Adair, Morgan Topping, James Hunter, Neil Rock, CJ Van Der Walt, Kyle Magee, Ross Allen, Carl Robinson, David Delany, Conor Olphert, Joshua Manley.
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