daniel chigunwe
Brandon Moyo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Ireland national cricket team is expected to touch down at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo on Sunday ahead of their one-off Test match against the Chevrons next week.
This will mark Ireland’s first visit to the City of Kings since they were last here in July 2023 for the International Cricket Council Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.
However, they were last in Zimbabwe in December 2023 were they played a white-ball series against the Chevrons in Harare.
The Chevrons are set to host Ireland for a full tour that consists of a one Test, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many T20Is.
The series gets underway with the one-off Test match at Queens Sports Club from February 6 to 10.
Action will then move to Harare for the limited overs games with the three one-dayers pencilled in for February 14, 16 and 18 while the 20-over matches will be played on February 22, 23 and 25.
The Irish Test team will have three days of practice and rest between Monday and Wednesday before the Test match gets underway on Thursday.
Prior to their trip to Zimbabwe, the Irish side, which has former Zimbabwe international Peter Joseph Moor in their fold, held a four-day training camp in Dubai.
Ireland have a better record against the Chevrons across all three formats.
The two sides have faced each other once in Tests, with Ireland emerging victorious in Belfast last year.
They won that Test match by four wickets.
In ODIs, the sides have met 22 times, with Ireland winning 10 matches compared to Zimbabwe’s eight, while one match was tied and three yielded no results.
In 15 T20Is, Ireland have registered eight wins compared to Zimbabwe’s seven.
“After a break since the series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi, it will be great to see us get back into action. Since 2007, there have been some wonderful contests against Zimbabwe and this should be no different. It’s exciting to have all three formats on this tour,” said Cricket Ireland national selector, Andrew White, in a statement.
Ireland Test Squad
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Morgan Topping, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
Zimbabwe Test Squad
Craig Ervine (Captain), Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Ben Curran, Joylord Gumbie, Trevor Gwandu, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Vincent Masekesa, Nyasha Mayavo, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Victor Nyauchi, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams.
