Cricket Ireland: Belfast’s historic first Test Match headlines a busy summer for Irish cricket

Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board

2024 will be a busy summer of cricket across Ireland with the return of Test cricket to Irish shores, six senior international sides to play Ireland Men and Ireland Women, a major emerging talent series against a touring West Indies Academy side, the first first-class cricket match in five years to be played in Ireland and a busy programme of representative domestic men’s and women’s cricket.

The last elements of the full fixture schedule were approved at the Cricket Ireland Board Meeting last week.

THE HEADLINES

• Stormont will become the 123rd cricket ground in the world to host men’s Test cricket with a five-day encounter scheduled against Zimbabwe Men in July (this is the first time the two nations have met in Test cricket);
• Ireland Men will face Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and participate in a T20 World Cup between May and October; and
• Ireland Women will face Sri Lanka and England between August and September. The squad is also currently participating in the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in UAE for the right to qualify for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.
• If Ireland Women qualify for the T20 World Cup, further fixtures will be announced as part of their preparation.

* NB: tickets will go on sale shortly for international matches.

SUMMER ISN’T JUST ABOUT SENIOR INTERNATIONALS

The action at senior international level will be complemented by fixtures for international talent pathway squads, including:

• A four-day first-class match will be played as part of the preparations for the Test. The fixture will be a Best v Best encounter (details to be advised in due course);
• Fans will also enjoy a multi-format tour of Ireland by the West Indies Academy – including two four-day matches. This is a reciprocal tour following the Emerging Ireland tour of the Caribbean in 2023;
• There will be numerous home and away fixtures for under-age international squads, as well as men’s and women’s versions of the Future Series;
• Irish representation will once again feature at the European Cricket Championships in September.

AND ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT

• The men’s Inter-Provincial Series (recently announced), which starts with a T20 Festival in Dublin on 1 May, will see 30 matches played between May and September;
• The women’s Evoke Super Series (announced shortly) will see 18 matches played between May and August;
• The three All-Ireland club cup competitions will once again see over 50 clubs in action

Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Ireland,said about the fixture programme:

Irish cricket fans are in for a treat in 2024 with more than 40 days of senior international cricket to enjoy between April and October – potentially more if our Women can qualify for this year’s T20 World Cup. It’s fantastic to see the demand for international cricket remains strong – the three men’s T20 Internationals against Pakistan sold out in a matter of days and we have had intense interest in further fixture announcements.

“I’m sure many fans will undoubtedly be looking forward to the return of Test cricket to Ireland. We will be creating a little piece of history by staging the first-ever Test in Belfast, and making Stormont the 123^rd cricket ground around the world to host men’s Test cricket. We look forward to seeing fans coming along to support the men’s Test squad as they seek to follow up on the terrific inaugural Test win over Afghanistan in March.

About the development of this year’s fixture programme, he said:

Fans have a programme of great international, pathway and domestic cricket to enjoy this Summer. This fixture schedule attempts to strike a balance of competitive, high quality cricket across multiple formats whilst addressing the challenges we face with respect to our current infrastructure constraints.

While we work on longer-term solutions for some of these challenges – most notably continuing to advocate to Government for the proposed permanent stadium – we know we’ll have to explore ways to creatively increase our capacity to host an ever-increasing schedule in the short term. Continually reviewing how best to optimise our hosting arrangements for cricket in Ireland and playing a few of our home matches in neutral venues overseas is something we must continue to explore, as we have done with the South Africa series this year.

2024 offers a great array of fixtures for fans of both men’s and women’s cricket. And with the historic nature of the Belfast Test, the possibility of seeing Irish sides in two T20 World Cups, and some of the world’s best sides touring, it should be an unmissable season of Irish cricket.

SENIOR INTERNATIONAL FIXTURE SCHEDULE (April to October 2024)

NB: Match start times listed where currently confirmed; all times are local to the venue

Ireland Men

Pakistan series

• 10 May: Ireland Men v Pakistan Men (1^st T20I; Clontarf)
• 12 May: Ireland Men v Pakistan Men (2^nd T20I; Clontarf)
• 14 May: Ireland Men v Pakistan Men (3^rd T20I; Clontarf)

Tri-Series

• 19 May 2024: Ireland v Netherlands (T20I; VRA; start 4pm)
• 20 May 2024: Ireland v Scotland (T20I; VRA; start 5pm)
• 23 May 2024: Ireland v Scotland (T20I; VRA; start TBC)
• 24 May 2024: Ireland v Netherlands (T20I; VRA; start TBC)

T20 World Cup – First Group stage

• 31 May: Warm-up Match v TBC (T20I; Fort Lauderdale)
• 5 June: India Men v Ireland Men (T20I; New York)
• 7 June: Ireland Men v Canada Men (T20I; New York)
• 14 June: USA Men v Ireland Men (T20I; Fort Lauderdale)
• 16 June: Ireland Men v Pakistan Men (T20I; Fort Lauderdale)

Zimbabwe Test

• 25-29 July: Ireland Men v Zimbabwe Men (Test Match; Stormont; 11am start time)

South Africa series

• 27 September: Ireland Men v South Africa Men (1^st T20I; Abu Dhabi)
• 29 September: Ireland Men v South Africa Men (2^nd T20I; Abu Dhabi)
• 2 October: Ireland Men v South Africa Men (1^st ODI; Abu Dhabi)
• 4 October: Ireland Men v South Africa Men (2^nd ODI; Abu Dhabi)
• 7 October: Ireland Men v South Africa Men (3^rd ODI; Abu Dhabi)

Ireland Women

Thailand series

• 16 April: Ireland Women v Thailand Women (1^st T20I; UAE)
• 18 April: Ireland Women v Thailand Women (2^nd T20I; UAE)

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier

• 21 April: Warm-up game v Scotland Women (T20I; UAE)
• 23 April: Warm-up game v USA Women (T20I; UAE)
• 25 April: Ireland Women v UAE Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)
• 29 April: Ireland Women v Zimbabwe Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)
• 1 May: Ireland Women v Vanuatu Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)
• 3 May: Ireland Women v Netherlands Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)

Sri Lanka Series

• 11 August: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (1^st T20I; Pembroke)
• 13 August: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (2^nd T20I; Pembroke)
• 16 August: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (1^st ODI; Stormont)*
• 18 August: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (2^nd ODI; Stormont)*
• 20 August: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (3^rd ODI; Stormont)*

England series

• 7 September: Ireland Women v England Women (1^st ODI; Stormont)*
• 9 September: Ireland Women v England Women (2^nd ODI; Stormont)*
• 11 September: Ireland Women v England Women (3^rd ODI; Stormont)*
• 14 September: Ireland Women v England Women (1^st T20I; Clontarf)
• 16 September: Ireland Women v England Women (2^nd T20I; Clontarf)
• 17 September: Ireland Women v England Women (3^rd T20I; Clontarf)

* Matches are part of the ICC Women’s Championship

If Ireland Women qualify, they will then play:

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup

• 28 September: Warm-up game (T20I; Bangladesh)
• 30 September: Warm-up game (T20I; Bangladesh)
• 3 to 20 October: T20 World Cup event

Pathway Series

Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy

• 11 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy (1^st ODM; Eglinton)
• 13 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy (2^nd ODM; Bready)
• 14 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy (3^rd ODM; Bready)
• 18-21 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy (1^st 4-day match; North Down)
• 25-28 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Academy (2^nd 4-day match; Stormont)

Cricket Ireland will make further announcements about the summer programme over the next week.

Name of Author: Cricket Ireland

Cricket Ireland

Cricket Ireland, officially known as The Irish Cricket Union Company Limited by Guarantee, is the governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland. It oversees the national men’s and women’s teams and organizes the Inter-Provincial Series, Super 3s, and All-Ireland club competitions. Ireland achieved Test status for women in 2000 and for men in 2017 when it became a Full Member of the ICC.