DURHAM’S Stuart Poynter, will have his sights firmly on next February’s World Cup in New Zealand when he plays for Ireland in three one-day matches against Sri Lanka A, writes TIM WELLOCK.

After making his Durham first team debut against the same opponents on Sunday, the 23-year-old wicketkeeper caught a 7am flight from Newcastle the next morning to join up with the Irish squad.

Poynter’s elder brother, Andrew, is captain for the 50-over matches, to be held at Stormont today and Friday, followed by Coleraine on Sunday.

Also in the squad is seamer Peter Chase, who has played for Durham seconds recently.

Poynter believes he is only the third-choice wicketkeeper behind Leicestershire’s Niall O’Brien and Surrey’s Gary Wilson, but said: “Whether as a keeper or a batsman this is a chance to stake my claim for the World Cup.

“There’s a lot of good talent in Ireland now and I want to get into the squad any way I can. It’s good to have this opportunity and I owe it to the Durham coach, Jon Lewis, who said it would be good for me to play a higher standard of cricket than in the second team.”

Ireland are coached by the West Indian Phil Simmons, who played for Durham as a Minor County during his time as the Guisborough professional and later starred against them for Leicestershire.

“The selectors have taken the opportunity to get a look at some new faces against quality opposition,”

he said. “There are World Cup places up for grabs, so it’s an important series for the players to state their case. They’ve all been performing well with their clubs, but need to show us they can do it at the higher level.”

Although Poynter was born in London, both his parents are Irish and he has an uncle who played for Ireland. Andrew has played for the north Dublin club, Clontarf, for several years, while Stuart came to Durham last year via the MCC Young Cricketers.

Durham needed a reserve wicketkeeper after it was decided Michael Richardson should concentrate purely on his batting. Like Garry Park before him, he had found that understudying Phil Mustard did not offer many opportunities.

But Poynter said: “It’s good to come to a club with someone like the Colonel, who I can learn a lot from. Any competition is good.

“I’ve improved my batting a lot in the last two years. I’m quite positive in the way I bat, but I probably need to work on batting for a long time.

“I’m on a two-year contract and I have surprised myself how quickly I have bedded in here. It was an honour to make my first team debut. It’s absolutely brilliant playing with people who have played Test cricket and I just listen and try to learn as much as I can.”

Poynter entered into a deal in early season with one of his housemates, Jamie Harrison, that they would grow a beard and the first to shave it off would get a tattoo.

“I had to get rid of it after nine weeks because it was getting ridiculous and my mum was giving me grief,” he said. “I might get the tattoo at the end of the season.”