KEVIN O�Brien was yesterday named as captain of Leinster Lightning ahead of the start of the revamped interprovincial cricket championship next month.

O�Brien leads a strong 22-man squad which includes a dozen who have played for Ireland � even though it excludes all the English-based professionals.

�It�s a good mix of experience and youth�, O�Brien told the Irish Daily Star. �There�s some old heads there and some exciting youngsters like Peter Chase and Tyrone Kane.�

The Lightning squad starts training next week and kicks off with a 50 overs game against the Northern Knights at the Hills on May 6th.
They will also play games over the three-day and 20 over formats.
Malahide�s Fintan McAllister, who won six caps before he went down under for two years, is back in the running for the keeper slot with Stuart Poynter.

Last year's Ireland A springer Alex O'Brien is also included, while Railway Union's Australian professional Patrick Collins � with Irish roots � also gets a chance to show his talent.

Squad: K O'Brien (Railway Union, capt), B Ackland (Merrion & Unicorns), J Anderson (Merrion), A Balbirnie (Pembroke & Cardiff MCCU), P Chase (Malahide & Durham), B Coghlan (Clontarf), P Collins (Railway Union), A Cusack (Clontarf), T Johnston (YMCA), T Kane (Merrion), P Lawson (Pembroke), J Mooney (North County), S Moreton (Leinster) , F McAllister (Malahide), B McCarthy (Pembroke), A O'Brien (Merrion), A Poynter (Clontarf), S Poynter (Clontarf & MCCYC), E Richardson (North County), M Sorensen (The Hills), R Strydom (YMCA), A Van der Merwe (YMCA). Coach: T Johnston; Manager: M Jones