Cricket: Ireland get down to business

Dubai - Inaugural edition of the Desert T20 is scheduled to be held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

The Ireland squad got down to business ahead of the inaugural edition of the Desert T20 cricket tournament, which is scheduled to be held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The Irish, who arrived in Dubai on Friday, took part in their second training session at the impressive ICC Cricket Academy facilities, on Sunday afternoon.
The squad, led by William Porterfield, will be looking to arrest a rather disappointing 2016 where they won only three of their 10 fixtures in the sport abridged format.
To do so, they will have to come through a tough Pool A which consists of the dangerous Afghanistan, Namibia and hosts the UAE.
And first up for Ireland will be a difficult test against Afghanistan at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 14.
They will then play Namibia on January 17 before coming up against the UAE the next day, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Pool B consists of The Netherlands, Oman, Scotland and Hong Kong.
The tournament has been initiated for eight Associate nations and runs until January 20. The semifinals and the finals will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Ireland are back to full strength after Boyd Rankin, Stuart Thompson and Andrew Balbirnie returned from injury lay-offs. Rankin was out with a broken leg.
Niall O'Brien and pacer Tim Murtagh have been dropped from the squad.
Andrew White, Ireland's third most-capped player with 232 appearances, is with the squad as batting coach, and giving him company is Ryan Eagleson, who is the bowling consultant.
Apart from a couple of more practice sessions and outfield practice, Ireland are also scheduled to play a warm-up match on Tuesday.
Afghanistan and the UAE have already got to work, while Scotland, who arrived on Saturday, took part in their first practice session on Sunday.
Hong Kong, Oman, The Netherlands and Namibia are scheduled to arrive on Monday.
james@khaleejtimes.com