Middlesex County Cricket Club would like to thank Cricket Ireland for allowing Tim Murtagh to play in the Club's final Specsavers County Championship match of the 2016 season against Yorkshire at Lord's.The match will be played between 20-23 September 2016.
The 2016 Specsavers County Championship is set to reach a thrilling conclusion next week with three teams - Middlesex, Yorkshire and Somerset - still in with a chance of lifting the trophy.
A win for Middlesex CCC would allow them to secure their first County Championship title for 23 years. Other results and the accumulation of bonus points could create several differing scenarios.
At the same time as Middlesex play Yorkshire the Ireland cricket team is in Benoni, South Africa, preparing to play One-Day Internationals against South Africa and Australia. Whilst the Ireland matches do not coincide with Middlesex's game against Yorkshire the match at Lord's will mean Murtagh arrives in South Africa the day before Ireland's game against South Africa on 25 September. In order to play for Ireland on 25 September Tim will fly overnight to South Africa at the conclusion of the Middlesex match. This will allow him to arrive in Johannesburg, at the latest, on the morning of 24 September.
Commenting on Cricket Ireland's decision Middlesex CCC's Managing Director of Cricket, Angus Fraser, said:
"I would like to thank Cricket Ireland for the understanding and sensitivity they have shown in this situation. This promises to be a fascinating week of cricket and the circumstances they have faced are likely to be a one-off.
"Middlesex CCC obviously want Tim Murtagh to be available to play in the game as he remains an outstanding cricketer and a pivotal member of our side. In the past decade nobody has done more than Tim on the field to get Middlesex CCC moving in the right direction. He deserves to be playing in the game.
"Tim is desperate to play for both teams and our match is undoubtedly the biggest match of his domestic career. To miss it would be a real blow to him. Cricket Ireland would have been well within their rights to make Tim travel with the rest of the squad to South Africa. Once again I thank Cricket Ireland for their understanding and hopefully this arrangement will satisfy all parties."
