Ireland plan to host Pakistan for two T20Is on England soil

Ireland have decided to play Pakistan for two T20Is – which was postponed from last summer – but due to the unpreparedness of their wickets, they will host it in England.

Ireland are staring at a busy summer of cricket, which features 16 limited-overs fixtures, but given Clontarf is unlikely to be ready to host international cricket after the square was re-laid, they are looking at other options.

The European Test nation have home fixtures lined up against Pakistan (two T20Is), South Africa (three ODIs, three T20Is) and Zimbabwe (three ODIs, five T20Is) in 2021. Although they were planning to play all of their games in their home grounds, the situation might force them to look at an alternative like England where they can play Pakistan.

“Our international fixtures next summer are all quite compacted,” Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s high-performance director, said.

“We’re going to use all our international strips at the other venues and we’re not going to have room on those grounds to play every single game at home, so we’re speaking to the ECB about the possibility of [staging games in England].

“The only team of the three that is going on to play England as well is Pakistan, so that looks like the most obvious series to play over there. We’re still waiting to hear back about scheduling, availability of grounds, and whether it’s financially viable before our board and match allocation group sign off on it. There’s a bit of way to go, but it looks possible.”

Given Pakistan have the Asia Cup commitment in June, it is unlikely that they host the series in June itself but Ireland will have a detailed discussion with Pakistan to chalk out the final fixtures.

Ireland looks to resurrect Euro T20 Slam

There is the slightest possibility that Ireland will take the lead to resurrect the Euro T20 Slam – a three-nation franchise tournament involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands – which have suffered two postponements already.

Given the T20 World Cup in India is already slated at the end of Ireland’s home summer, this might end up as a dream only.