Ireland squads named for historic Bangladesh, Sri Lanka tours

Playing all three formats in Bangladesh, Andy Balbirnie's side then move south to play in the two longer formats.

After qualifying for Ireland, former Zimbabwe international wicket-keeper batter PJ Moor has been named in both Test squads, and has experience in Bangladesh, making scores of 63* and 83 on a tour there in November 2018. Fellow wicket-keeper batter Lorcan Tucker, who enjoyed a breakout tournament at last year's T20 World Cup, is named in all five squads.

On the red-ball front, Ireland have 10 potential debutants in the squad, with coach Heinrich Malan seeing the matches as "a blank canvas".

"We’re not going to try and play like anyone else, we’ll play our own way and that is the key message within our environment at the moment.

"We want our guys to go out there and figure out how we best play red ball cricket – it’s not that we need to block or play essentially T20 cricket.

"We have a group of players who like to play an aggressive style in white-ball cricket that people like to watch, but in red ball it’s finding that balance. It’s about playing what’s in front of you – the pitch, the opposition, the scoreboard. But these aren’t different conversations we’ve been having around the T20 or one-day realms."

Ireland to play first Test match since 2019 on ground-breaking Bangladesh tour

In perhaps the most head-turning squad decision, Paul Stirling will not take part in any Test cricket, with his omission a "mutual decision" between the right-handed aggressor and the coaching team.

Stirling will now focus his efforts on white-ball cricket across domestic tournaments and international play, with Malan citing Stirling's well-being and workload.

"This year, with a big white ball focus in terms of a pinnacle event in the World Cup, we got to that sort of agreement that up until the World Cup, he will only play white-ball cricket for us.

"And in the same breath, (he will) get a little bit of a balance from a wellbeing point of view with him missing some of that Test cricket, which again, it creates some opportunities for some of the lads that we want to see in there.”

Looking to the youth, Under-19 World Cup hero Matthew Humphries graduates into the senior setup, selected in all five squads.

Malan feels his unique skill set as a left-arm bowler provides the side a point of difference.

"He was the go-to guy in that environment. He bowled every phase, showed that he's a competitor, showed that he can take wickets.

"I guess when you look at it from that point of view, he's got all the traits and the attributes that we're looking for. Hence putting him in a wider squad environment where hopefully he gets some game time at some stages.

"But also, we are working back from some pinnacle events when you think about where the T20 World Cup's going to be in 2024, in the West Indies and in America, that those sort of surfaces are going to assist that sort of skill set.”

ODI Series

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)

T20I Series

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)

Test Match

4-8 April: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – Test Match (SBNCS, Dhaka)

Test Match

18-22 April: Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men – Test Match (Galle)

ODI Series

26 April: Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men – 1st ODI (Colombo)
23 April: Sri Lanka Men v Ireland Men – 2nd ODI (Colombo)

Ireland squad for Bangladesh ODI series

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White.

Ireland squad for Bangladesh T20I series

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Ireland squad for Bangladesh Test Match

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Murray Commins, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White.

Ireland squad for Sri Lanka Test Match

Andrew Balbirnie (C), Curtis Campher, Murray Commins, George Dockrell, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White.

Ireland squad for Sri Lanka ODI series

Paul Stirling (C), Curtis Campher, Murray Commins, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Conor Olphert, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.