For the men's game from 2023 to 2027, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday unveiled a new Future Tours Programme (FTP) that spans four years. Ireland Men are scheduled to play 113 games versus Full Members between May 2023 and April 2027 as part of this extensive schedule.
Ireland Men will compete against other Full Member teams in a total of 47 T20 Internationals, 54 one-day internationals, and 12 Test matches. Ireland Men begin 2023 with tours of Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka as part of the ongoing 2019–2023 FTP, before the start of the new 2023–2027 FTP in May.
Reland begins the new FTP against Bangladesh in a home white-ball series before going straight to England for a single Test match in June 2023. Before playing Zimbabwe for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is later in the year, Ireland will also tour England for three one-day internationals.
Ireland will then play one of their four series against the Asian team over the five-year cycle when they go to Afghanistan for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is in January 2024. "The launch of the new ICC Future Tours Programme represents yet another accomplishment for Irish cricket in recent years. Prior generations could only imagine the calibre and quantity of international cricket that Irish fans can now experience."
"Starting with Bangladesh at home, followed by a Test match against England is a mouth-watering start to the new programme — and all of that comes after three tours throughout the early months of the year," said one sports writer.
"Ireland Men will compete against all 11 other Full Member teams in 113 encounters that are not part of ICC tournaments from 2023 to 2027. Fortunately, this will also feature 12 Test matches, a format we as a nation are eager to explore more of in the upcoming years, while cognizant that world cup qualification remains a top objective, "said Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's CEO.
Along with Afghanistan, Ireland received Test status in 2017, and they will host Test matches against both New Zealand and Zimbabwe in addition to additional limited overs matches against Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.
"It's also crucial to remember that the bilateral matches against Associate countries that will also be added to Ireland Men's playing calendar over the upcoming years are not included in the FTP that was released today. This men's FTP, along with the women's FTP released yesterday, indicates that Irish cricket fans will have a very busy few years ahead of them."
"It is crucial for Cricket Ireland to be able to lock in multiple years' worth of bilateral cricket as a Full member because it gives us more time to prepare and seek revenue streams. This income from areas like television and sponsorship helps us to carry out our mission of expanding the game throughout Ireland "Deutrom came to an end.
The Members will disclose the series' exact dates when the time is right. A day after the first-ever Women's FTP was announced, the new Men's FTP was also revealed.
The matches against Associate Members, which will be announced in due course, are not part of the schedule as it is now written. The FTP fixtures are all separate from future international games that will be played as part of ICC tournaments; the first of these ICC events may be the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in June–July 2023 (assuming Ireland doesn't already qualify through the World Cup Super League).