WARRIORS NAME NEW SKIPPER

The North West Warriors have a new captain this week after Iftikhar Hussain passed the armband to Coleraine's Niall McDonnell following a meeting with the team's coaching staff. The Fox Lodge man hasn't had his sorrows to seek during his time as captain and notified selectors of his intention to stand down ahead of last night's challenge match with a Presidents XI. The Warriors have failed to win any of their four games so far however three of those have been away to an all-conquering Leinster team. On top of that they lost key man Johnny Thompson at a crucial stage in the narrow defeat to the Northern Knights at Eglinton. Hussain though felt it was time for someone else to take over the role and he advised the back-room team of his decision last week. The selection committee then contacted vice-captain McDonnell who agreed to take over while Stuart Thompson will be the Coleraine player's deputy.

Chairman of Selectors, Peter Gillespie suggested that the committee had accepted "Ifti"'s decision and thanked him for his efforts since the campaign started. "Ifti took on the role reluctantly to begin with but he did so in order to give the players time to settle into the squad. We have to remember that the Inter-Provincial series was new to the majority and certainly the 3-day and T20 formats are something that we are learning about all the time. Whilst the committee accept Ifti's decision it was important for us that he stay on in a playing role and thankfully he is happy to do that. The committee would like to thank him for his efforts and for steering the ship in the early stages of these tournaments".

"As vice-captain we felt that Niall was the ideal person to go to and he has agreed to take the armband with immediate effect. Stuart Thompson will be Niall's deputy and we have no doubt the pair will relish the challenges ahead for the Warriors. The committee would like to wish Niall the very best for the job in hand and we have no doubt he will bring his own style and commitment to the Warriors' cause".