Ireland won the toss and chose to bowl first vs England
The quartet were handed their caps before the start of play, by the former England players Andrew Flintoff, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher and Dominic Cork.
Hain, 28, has been one of the outstanding white-ball cricketers on the domestic circuit in recent years, averaging a remarkable 57.96 in List A cricket, at a strike-rate of 86.19. Hartley, the Lancashire left-arm spinner, was a late inclusion in the squad following Craig Overton’s withdrawal, having impressed for England Lions in Sri Lanka last winter – and squeezed into the XI due to illness to Luke Wood.
Scrimshaw, who is set to leave Derbyshire for Northants next year, is perhaps the most intriguing inclusion, with his 6ft 7in frame, allied to an ability to touch 90mph, making him a key asset. He made his first mark in last season’s T20 Blast, claiming 23 wickets.
Surrey’s Smith, meanwhile, is one of the most exciting prospects in the squad, a clean ball-striker and wicketkeeper who, at the age of 23, looks set to be a key contender across formats for England in the coming years.
For Ireland, there are a handful of notable positional changes in their line-up, following the team’s failure to progress through the World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe this summer.
Andrew Balbirnie, the former captain, steps up to open alongside his successor Stirling, while Curtis Campher has been inked in at No. 3, having made his mark in the middle order in the early years of his career.
“It’s a fresh wicket in late September,” Stirling said at the toss. “We’ll see if we can get some extraction from the pitch.” Crawley admitted he would have batted too.
England: 1 Will Jacks, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Zak Crawley (capt), 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Sam Hain, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Brydon Carse, 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 George Scrimshaw.
Ireland: 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Curtis Campher, 4 Harry Tector, 5 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 6 George Dockrell, 7 Andy McBrine, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Craig Young, 11 Josh Little
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Source: ESPN Crickinfo