Ireland to host South Africa in Bristol during jam-packed white-ball schedule

The two sides will contest two T20I following South Africa's white-ball fixtures against England. Ireland will also face India, New Zealand and Afghanistan at home

Ireland are set to host South Africa in Bristol as part of a jam-packed white-ball summer for Andy Balbirnie’s side.

The two sides are scheduled to contest two T20Is on August 3 and August 5.

The matches will slot in between South Africa’s existing fixtures against England. The Proteas will face England in three ODIs (July 19-24) and three T20Is (July 27-31) before completing three Test matches later in August.

Billed as the 'Season of Stars' by Cricket Ireland, they will also host India for two T20Is in Malahide in late June and New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20Is in July. The latter series is provisionally split between Malahide and Stormont.

A five-match T20I series against Afghanistan is currently being finalised for later this year while Ireland’s postponed fixtures against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been rescheduled for 2023.

Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, said: "2022 is set to be the biggest summer of international cricket ever in Ireland, with Irish cricket fans able to enjoy watching some of the world’s best players on show.

^{New Zealand and India are both scheduled to visit Ireland in 2022 [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]}

"We are delighted to welcome back India Men’s team for the first time since 2018, as well as the number one-ranked ODI side – the Black Caps, who were last here in 2017. Just as important, given we will shortly after be heading to a T20 World Cup, are the two T20I series against South Africa and Afghanistan. Our thanks goes to Gloucestershire Cricket Club for agreeing to host the South African series.

"We also look forward to also announcing shortly our international women’s programme, which will herald a new era in Irish women’s cricket.

"Taking all these into consideration, we decided to postpone both this year’s planned tour to Zimbabwe in April and the home Bangladesh series into 2023. This will help alleviate some of these factors, spread the cost of men’s cricket over two years, and also spread the fixture load across 2022 and 2023, in particular given that the World Cup’s delay to the end of the year has left us to fill the 2023 home season.

"Even with these changes, we’re still hosting a record amount of men’s cricket against some of the world’s top teams this year – with more exciting announcements to come around our women’s fixtures."

Gloucestershire chief executive, Will Brown, added: "We are absolutely delighted to be working with Cricket Ireland and to be hosting two prestigious IT20 matches between Ireland and South Africa at Bristol. Both teams bring with them passionate supporters and we look forward to two tightly contested and exciting fixtures.

"We’re extremely proud of our track record in hosting international men’s and women’s cricket, and to be chosen as the host for this bilateral series is a real positive for both the club and the city of Bristol. With these matches falling in the summer holidays, there is a great opportunity for families to enjoy these games and potentially experience international cricket for the very first time."