{"id":3620,"date":"2009-08-04T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=3620"},"modified":"2009-10-18T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2009-10-18T15:08:14","slug":"great-britains-40-man-world-cup-roster-is-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=3620","title":{"rendered":"Great Britain’s 40-man World Cup roster is announced"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Great

Great Britain Baseball<\/p><\/div>\n

Great Britain announced<\/a> their 40-man preliminary roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 The roster is built around the core of the 2007 European Championship silver medal team, including tournament MVP Brant Ust and catcher Mike Nickeas, and features players currently competing in leagues in North America, Europe and here in Britain.<\/p>\n

The 40-man roster will be reduced to twenty-four when the tournament begins on 9 September.\u00c2\u00a0 Team GB’s first game is scheduled for 10 September, when they will take on Japan in Zagreb, Croatia.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Great Britain have made a determined effort to increase the quality of their player pool over the past few years by holding try-out camps in the States.\u00c2\u00a0 Such British eligible players like the aforementioned Ust and Nickeas have been instrumental in raising the standards of Great Britain national team play, both via their own contributions on the field and in helping British talent to improve their games as well.<\/p>\n

The British Baseball Federation will be publishing further details about the players\u00c2\u00a0when the final roster is announced.\u00c2\u00a0 Until then, here’s a brief guide to the make-up of the preliminary roster.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minor Leaguers<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are three current Minor Leaguers on the roster:<\/p>\n