Ireland Men's cricket team will play its first Test Match in over three years as part of its seven-match, multi-format tour of Bangladesh.
According to Ireland Cricket, the month-long tour will feature a warm-up fixture on March 15, then three one-day internationals, three T20 Internationals and the Test Match. This will be the first-ever Test Match played between the two sides, and the first multi-format series the two sides have played at the senior level. The squad will depart Dublin on March 11. Ireland made their Test debut in May 2018 against Pakistan. The Asian side won the match by five wickets. It also played a four-day Test against England in July 2019, which England won by 143 runs. Richard Holdsworth, High-Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said: "2023 is set to be an incredibly busy year in Irish cricket - and we are delighted to confirm this tour of Bangladesh. While it is the first tour of its kind that we have undertaken at the senior level, the Ireland Wolves toured Bangladesh in early 2021 - that squad featured 10 members of the current senior squad playing in Zimbabwe this month." "Under the Future Tours Programme we will be playing a great deal of cricket in Asia, so these matches are valuable experiences for our players' development - as well as an opportunity to get an insight into the team we will be playing in our last World Cup Super League matches in May." "While the white-ball fixtures will be keenly watched, undoubtedly most interest will be in the Test Match at the backend of the tour. Our return to playing Test cricket is very welcome, and it will be the first of a few Tests in 2023. Thanks to the Bangladesh Cricket Board for working with us on putting together a great schedule." The tour schedule is: Warm-up match -March 15: warm-up match - opponent to be announced ODI Series-March 18: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 1st ODI (SICS, Sylhet -March 20: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 2nd ODI (SICS, Sylhet) -March 23: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 3rd ODI (SICS, Sylhet) T20I Series-March 27: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 1st T20I (ZACS, Chattogram) -29 March 29: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 2nd T20I (ZACS, Chattogram) -31 March 31: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - 3rd T20I (ZACS, Chattogram) Test Match-April 4-8: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men - Test Match (SBNCS, Dhaka) Squad selection will be announced in due course. (ANI)
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