Bury St Edmunds cricketers receive England IMC Over-40s World Cup squad call up for tournament in Cape Town

Two Bury St Edmunds cricketers have been selected in the England squad for the IMC Over-40s World Cup.

Former Suffolk captain Justin Bishop and ex-Cambridgeshire all-rounder Sean Park have been named in the squad for the tournament taking place in Cape Town in South Africa next year.

They are joined in the 16-man squad by two other ex-Suffolk players – Chris Swallow, who will skipper the side, and Ben France.

The 45-overs-a-side tournament, which will be played with a pink ball, will run from February 17 until March 1 with the 12 teams split into two groups of six.

England have been drawn in Group A alongside Australia, Canada, Namibia, the USA and Zimbabwe, with hosts South Africa in Group B with India, New Zealand, Sir Lanka, the UAE and Wales.

Bishop, who plays for Bury St Edmunds II XI in Division Two of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship, said he was delighted to be selected in the squad.

“After a reasonable season, I hoped that I would make the squad. As interest in Over-40s cricket has grown over the past year, and more and more players have expressed an interest in being involved, competition has heated up,” said Bishop.

“I am sure the standard of the team will continue to improve and for any player to remain in the side, we will have to continue to work hard and continue performing well.

“I was obviously delighted to find out that I had been selected in the squad after a series of trial games and training days in 2022-23. It was also nice to receive the good news from Pidge (Swallow).”

Bishiop, 41, previously represented England Under-19s and played 25 first-class and 23 List A matches for Essex.

“Playing in the World Cup for England is an honour,” he said.

“It will be exciting to come up against and to try and outperform experienced players from other countries.