Gareth Delany: There's a buzz in Ireland squad ahead of busy summer

Ireland are due to play South Africa, India, New Zealand and Afghanistan this summer and after a strong run of performances for Ireland Wolves, Delany is hopeful of securing a regular spot in the XI

Gareth Delany has revealed there is a buzz among Ireland’s players as they prepare for a packed summer schedule.

Beginning their summer with two T20Is against South Africa in Bristol, Ireland are due to host India in Malahide for two T20Is in late June before facing New Zealand in July. Against the latter, they will play three ODIs and three T20Is, with the matches expected to be held at Malahide and Stormont.

A five-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Stormont has also been scheduled for August as preparation for the T20 World Cup in Australia in autumn.

"It’s a really exciting summer of cricket. There was a definite buzz among the group when the India games were announced, after the massive crowds and atmosphere when they were here back in 2018," Delany told Cricket Ireland’s website. "As a group we want to play as much cricket against the top teams as possible and that is certainly the case this summer."

Delany, a veteran of 49 white-ball caps at the age of 24, has been in good form for Ireland Wolves of late, most recently scoring 282 runs at 70.50 – including his maiden List A century – and taking 10 wickets at 15.70 against Namibia A.

^{India last visited Ireland in 2018 [Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images]}

And he hopes to use his performances in Windhoek, combined with a strong start to Ireland's domestic competition with Munster Reds, to secure a regular spot in the national side’s hugely competitive white-ball XIs.

"I’d like to think I can break into the team, but the ODI side has been performing very well for a long period of time, - plus there’s a lot of competition for places with guys having put in some very good performances," he said.

"So, the only thing that I can focus on will be to try and put in some good performances consistently over the summer to keep pushing myself into contention."

"Naturally you want to keep your form going when you’ve got into a rhythm, but it will be a different story back home where conditions might be more favourable for bowlers early on in the season. You’ll be playing against guys who know in more depth your strengths and weaknesses, so hopefully I can adjust to both quickly.

"With T20Is, it’s probably harder to put a consistent run of good performances together given the nature of the format, but if I can put in some match-winning performances with the bat and ball for Munster at Inter-Pro level, and perform at international level during the home internationals, it puts me in a good place to be part of that World Cup squad come October."

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