The Isle of Man will join 11 other International Twenty20 teams to contest the Pepsi ICC European Division One Championship in Sussex next month.
The top two sides are guaranteed a shot at qualifying for the 2014 ICC World T20 in Bangladesh.
The island squad shows a good mixture of youth and experience. The 14 players named are: Dan Hawke, Jaco Jansen, Luke Lacey, Adam McAuley, Alex Stokoe, Max Stokoe, Carl Wagstaffe, Matt Ansell (Cronkbourne); Chris Hawke, Akkie Van Den Berg, Phil Littlejohns (Peel and St John’s); Mark Williams, Garreth Roome (Castletown); Ollie Webster (Ramsey). The manager is Barry Smith and Gareth Dawson coach.
The nations are initially split into two leagues, with the Manx in section B along with Denmark, Jersey, France, Belgium and Germany. In section A are Austria, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
Isle of Man won Division Two in Greece last year and now faces a big challenge in the higher league. The other countries in their section are all ICC associate members, while the island is a lower-ranked affiliate.
The competition gets underway on Monday, July 8, with group matches staged at Horsham Cricket Club and Preston Nomads. It ends with a finals day involving the top four sides on Saturday, July 13 at The County Ground in Hove.
The final will be played under floodlights and the two sides will progress to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates in November. There they will have the chance to make the cut for next year’s ICC World Twenty20.
The island’s first match is against Denmark who last year were the Division One champions.
The week will be a demanding and exciting challenge for the Isle of Man.