Ireland announce home summer fixtures against South Africa and Zimbabwe

Ireland will also travel to the Netherlands for a three-match ODI series in June before hosting South Africa and Zimbabwe in July and August, respectively.

Ireland v South Africa fixtures

Ireland v Zimbabwe fixtures

Netherlands v Ireland fixtures

Ireland will play 12 white-ball fixtures against South Africa and Zimbabwe as part of their home summer season.

Hosting South Africa in July, the two sides will play three ODIs in Malahide followed by three T20 internationals split between Malahide (first) and Stormont (second and third).

Ireland will then remain in Stormont for three ODIs against Zimbabwe in August before relocating to Bready for three T20s against the same opponent.

The two ODI series will form part of the ICC World Cup Super League.

Preceding the home fixtures, Ireland will travel to the Netherlands for a three-match ODI series in June – also part of the ICC World Cup Super League – while discussions are underway with the Pakistan Cricket Board and England & Wales Cricket Board regarding a two-match T20 series against Pakistan.

Commenting on Ireland’s schedule, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, Warren Deutrom, said: "The year 2021 is certainly full of optimism, but of course we can’t ignore the great uncertainties still in the world, and our planning is trying to factor that in as much as possible.

📡: MEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS RELEASED

12 fixtures confirmed, with @OfficialCSA and @ZimCricketv set to arrive this summer.

Confirmation of away series against @KNCBcricket.

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— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) February 15, 2021

"We need to plan for matches to proceed but with the background knowledge that circumstances might see further postponements.

"We have some massive targets this year, whether it’s men’s World Cup Super League matches and building towards the T20 World Cup in October, or else the Women’s World Cup Qualifier, and regional qualifying for the next Women’s T20 World Cup.

"Our international and domestic match planning needs to be tailored to preparing for those major milestones, as well as reacting as quickly as possible to the likely setbacks Covid-19 may present.

"For our senior men, there are six World Cup Super League matches included in the schedule, in which we welcome back South Africa who last played here 14 years ago, while we shall be resuming our competitive clashes with Zimbabwe, who played a great series here in 2019."

Addressing the possible Pakistan series, he continued: "We are still in discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board about the timing and location of playing the two T20Is postponed from 2020. As in 2020, we won’t have access to one of our four internationally-accredited grounds with Clontarf still unavailable to host international matches.

"Given the constraints on the number of fresh pitches available, and needing to cater for at least 12 men’s matches, we are looking into hosting matches in England, as we did with Bangladesh last year."

Deutrom also commented on the lack of upcoming Test matches for Ireland, stating: "Fans may also recall that the original FTP included a Test match against Zimbabwe in 2021. Unfortunately, due to the fixture rescheduling of the international cricket calendar, and twin financial constraints brought about by Covid and the fact that we do not have a dedicated cricket stadium yet, we are simply unable to afford a home Test in 2021.

"Test cricket is still a highly-revered format of our sport that we will be seeking to play more frequently in future years, however, given the reasons stated, and the fact it is a T20 World Cup year, the board felt our priority should be white-ball cricket this season to give our squad the best chance of success on the world stage."