Ireland gear up for power-packed summer, announce white-ball series against India, Bangladesh and England

Ishan Kishan. (Photo Source: Twitter)

DUBLIN – Irish cricket fans will be able to enjoy watching the world’s number one T20 International side, India, when the Asian juggernauts return to Malahide for a three-match T20I series this August. To complete the summer men’s fixture announcements, the three-match World Cup Super League series against Bangladesh will be played in Chelmsford with tickets now on sale.

India and Ireland played an exciting two-match T20I series in 2022 – and while India won the series 2-0, both matches were nail-biting affairs during which Ireland were unlucky not to record at least one memorable victory (see 1st T20I scorecard and 2nd T20I scorecard). The return of the world’s top-ranked T20I side for a second consecutive year represents a vote of confidence in the talent and competitiveness of the current Irish side and a fitting end to the home international fixtures this summer.

Earlier in the summer, Ireland Men will face Bangladesh in a three-match one-day international series that may result in a remarkable Cricket World Cup qualification for the Men in Green. The matches, to be played at the Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford, in early May are both sides’ final World Cup Super League fixtures. While Bangladesh have already qualified for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, a 3-0 series win for Ireland may see them also qualify automatically for the global tournament. If Ireland do not win 3-0, they will head to Zimbabwe in June for the 50-over World Cup Qualifier.

These newly confirmed fixtures complete a busy six-month playing schedule for Ireland Men which begins this month with the tour to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In total, Ireland Men will potentially play more than 30 matches between March and September.

Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, said:

“Summer 2023 will be a feast of men’s cricket but will look very different to normal for fans. We can today confirm India visiting Ireland for a second consecutive year and confirm the World Cup Super League series against Bangladesh will proceed in early May. This is on top of the already announced Test match at Lord’s in June and the three-match ODI series in September against England.

“Making our summer slightly unusual is that we have not been able to look at organising any bilateral cricket between mid-June and mid-July given the potential of our participation in the 50-over Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier. It won’t be until after the Bangladesh series that we will learn whether we are heading to the Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

“Also, in late July we have the ICC T20 World Cup European Qualifier – which is another away set of fixtures. Given the rather different shape to this summer, fans are encouraged to buy their tickets early for home matches given the anticipated interest and demand it will generate. Even if the series against India is half as dramatic as last year’s, it will be more than worth the price of admission.

“We extend our grateful thanks to the Bangladesh Cricket Board for fitting in matches rescheduled during the Covid era, as well as to the BCCI and Cricket West Indies for being so flexible given the uncertainties of World Cup Qualifier participation. It certainly hasn’t been an easy task to schedule these fixtures, but we have achieved it and are delighted to confirm them today.”

The home series against Bangladesh is set to be played in England, Deutrom explains:

“We will be taking on Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series that offers us a shot at World Cup qualification – and while they are home matches, we’ve made the decision to play the fixtures in Chelmsford. The reason for this is mostly around maximising our chances of playing the three matches – as we need to play and win the three games to qualify.

“After in-depth consideration, it was decided that this approach gave us the best chance of securing automatic qualification particularly given the fact that the matches have to be played before the World Cup Super League cut-off in mid-May. We need a venue where the weather patterns and playing facilities give us the best chance of mitigating any rain impacts. Unfortunately, it is likely too early in the Irish season to prepare pitches to ODI standard unless we have a remarkably dry April. This only underscores our determination to accelerate the development of our permanent venue infrastructure, an objective which remains among my most pressing.”

Due to various circumstances relating primarily to financial challenges in 2023, a number of planned fixtures have been postponed during the home summer, Deutrom said:

“Given the congestion of fixtures, and the need to balance priorities in this financially-challenging year, we have had to postpone a number of fixtures – namely four T20Is against Bangladesh Men and a tour to Ireland by Bangladesh A. While the men’s T20Is will likely be rescheduled to a time that would be more beneficial to play that format – such as a lead up to a T20 World Cup – the latter is a choice we tried hard to avoid, understanding the importance of the Wolves programme in preparing our players for international cricket. However, these are postponements rather than a cancellation, and we’ll work with the BCB to identify a time when we can play the series.”

Also, in late news, Cricket Ireland has confirmed that the Euro T20 Slam concept tournament will not proceed in 2023. Significant progress had been made on the development of the proposed franchise tournament, and plans for a 2024 launch.

TICKETING

Tickets for all Ireland matches in England this summer are now on sale
Tickets for the Ireland Men v India Men series will go on sale shortly

IRELAND MEN’S SCHEDULE – March to September 2023

Bangladesh multi-format tour

18 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 1st ODI (SICS, Sylhet)
20 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 2nd ODI (SICS, Sylhet)
23 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 3rd ODI (SICS, Sylhet)
27 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 1st T20I (ZACS, Chattogram)
29 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 2nd T20I (ZACS, Chattogram)
31 March: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 3rd T20I (ZACS, Chattogram)
4-8 April: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – Test Match (SBNCS, Dhaka)

Sri Lanka Test tour

16-20 April: Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men – 1st Test Match (Galle)
24-28 April: Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men – 2nd Test Match (Galle)

World Cup Super League series against Bangladesh

9 May: Ireland Men v Bangladesh Men – 1st ODI (Chelmsford; tickets on sale on Tuesday)
12 May: Ireland Men v Bangladesh Men – 2nd ODI (Chelmsford; tickets now on sale on Tuesday)
14 May: Ireland Men v Bangladesh Men – 3rd ODI (Chelmsford; tickets now on sale on Tuesday)

England Test tour

26-28 May: Essex Men v Ireland Men – 1st Class Match (Chelmsford; tickets now on sale)
1-4 June: England Men v Ireland Men – Test Match (Lord’s; tickets now on sale)

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier*

18 June-9 July: Global Qualifier – ODIs (Zimbabwe)

* Ireland Men will only head to the Qualifier if they don’t achieve automatic qualification for the Cricket World Cup through the World Cup Super League matches.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup European Qualifier

20-28 July: European Qualifier – T20Is (Scotland)

India T20I home series

Three T20Is between 18-23 August: Ireland Men v India Men (Malahide) – tickets on sale soon

England ODI tour

20 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 1st ODI (Headingley)
23 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 2nd ODI (Trent Bridge)
26 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 3rd ODI (Bristol)