Ireland are preparing to host a first T20 series against England, buoyed by memories of a “special night at the MCG”.
The nations have only played each other in the 20-over format on two occasions, a washout in 2010 and an upset win for the Irish at the 2022 World Cup in Australia.
England went on to win the tournament but a five-run victory in the group stage goes down as one of Ireland’s finest results.
From Wednesday they will face each other three times in five days in Malahide, where Jacob Bethell will captain England for the first time in the absence of the rested Harry Brook.
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“Any time we play England we know it’s a nice rivalry between the two teams and it’s been like that over the years,” said head coach Heinrich Malan.
“This is the first time we’ve played a series against them but we’ve faced them twice in T20s – the first was rained off, then that special night at the MCG. It’s setting up to be a nice, exciting week.”
While England are going in without their Test regulars ahead of the Ashes, with Bethell and Rehan Ahmed perhaps the only squad members who will make that trip in November, the hosts are also under strength.
Seamers Josh Little, Mark Adair and Fionn Hand – who all featured in the memorable success three years ago – are not fit for duty, leaving a test of the Irish depth chart.
“It’s never ideal when you’re missing some of your quality players, we can all agree on that,” said Malan.
“In the same breath that creates opportunities and this is definitely one of those. We see it as a benefit, not necessarily a challenge.
“The players that do come in get a better feel for the pace of international cricket and if things don’t work out they’ve got a couple of areas they can go back and work on. If things do work out, we’ve got some nice competition in our squad.”
