Cricket Ireland on Thursday (December 10) announced a 16-man squad for their upcoming ODI series against UAE and Afghanistan in January next year.

Players, support staff who are not part of the touring party will remain at home under COVID-19 safety conditions and they might have to fly out as a substitute to Abu Dhabi if the situation demands.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Gary Wilson won’t be part of both the series as he has been granted paternity leave to be with his family. Neil Rock has been named in the squad as cover for Wilson.

The names of George Dockrell, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin are also missing from the squad.

Despite not having some key players in the line-up, Ireland will enter into the series with a lot of confidence as they have competed well against World Champions England in August this year.

"It goes without saying that 2020 has been a difficult year, but the lads have acquitted themselves well and can be proud of what they have managed to achieve," Head coach Graham Ford quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"We've beaten the T20 World Champions, the West Indies, in a T20I in the Caribbean, beaten Afghanistan for the first time in a T20I in the subcontinent, and beaten the current World Cup champions England in their own backyard - those wins have helped build self-belief within the players and have demonstrated the progress we are making as a squad."

"We have two challenging series ahead of us, but we're looking to create a sense of momentum going into a big year - a year that will feature multiple tours, a full home season and a T20 WC at the back end," he added.

The itinerary and venues for the two series are yet to be finalised.

Ireland Squad:

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, David Delany, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O'Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.