CRICKET ICC INTERCONTINENTAL CUPCAPTAIN TRENT Johnston has targeted maximum points as Ireland continue their defence of the ICC Intercontinental Cup with a clash against the United Arab Emirates, which gets underway in Abu Dhabi today.
Ireland have taken a calculated gamble by passing up home advantage in a bid to get a competitive game under their belts before they travel on to Bangladesh for three One-Day Internationals later this month.
A full haul of 20 points would put Ireland into second place in the table behind Kenya with a game in hand, but Johnston knows his side will have to dust off the winter cobwebs and hit the ground running at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
"It will not be a walk in the park for us and we will have to play really well to collect maximum points, which is our main objective," said a cautious Johnston, who has captained Ireland to back-to-back successes in the four-day competition.
"The UAE has been unlucky in the last few games and they have a pretty experienced side. It will not be easy and we will have to grab every opportunity that comes our way."
Coach Phil Simmons can call on 10 of the players that hammered Bermuda by an innings and 146 runs in Ireland's final game of last season, with only Andy White absent as he is getting married.
Ireland will be missing two of the World Cup stars as opening bat Jeremy Bray (shoulder) and strike bowler Boyd Rankin (stress fracture) both miss the trip.
Promising 17-year-old opening bat Paul Stirling has joined up with the squad after playing in the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, while Simmons has included two uncapped left-arm bowlers in the shape of Reinhardt Strydom and Phil Eaglestone.
Ireland cruised to an innings and 170 run victory over the UAE in this competition in February of last year, a game in which Eoin Morgan set an Irish record, scoring 209 not out in his side's first innings of 531 for five declared.
Morgan also shared in a record stand of 360 with Andre Botha, who hit 157.
With other big-hitters such as Niall and Kevin O'Brien, Alex Cusack and Johnston in the squad, Ireland look to have too much firepower for a UAE side that have lost their last two home games to Namibia and Kenya.
IRELAND SQUAD: T Johnston (Railway Union, capt), A Botha (North County), A Cusack (Clontarf), P Eaglestone (Strabane), T Fourie (Merrion), G Kidd (Waringstown), K McCallan (Waringstown), E Morgan (Middlesex), K O'Brien (Railway Union), N O'Brien (Northants), W Porterfield (Gloucestershire), P Stirling (Cliftonville), R Strydom (North County), G Thompson (Lisburn).
