Ireland ‘underprepared’ for England T20s – Stirling

Ireland v England, three-match T20 series

Venue: Malahide, County Dublin Dates: 17, 19 and 21 September Start time: 13:30 BST

Ireland white ball captain Paul Stirling says the side are “obviously disappointed” by a lack of competitive cricket this summer.

Heinrich Malan’s squad will welcome England to Dublin for a three-game T20 series starting on Wednesday for what will be their first international fixtures since a loss to West Indies in the same format on 15 June.

Ireland’s players faced each other in what was called the Emerald Challenge series this month, and in the Inter-Provincial Cup earlier in the summer, but have completed just three internationals since their series against Zimbabwe in February.

Such has been the break from international action, Stirling said the high-profile fixtures felt more like the start of their winter programme than the end of their summer.

“We’ve been under-prepared would be the honest answer,” he said.

“It’s nice to get together as a squad for the first time in about four months. We’re looking forward to getting out there and giving it a good go.

Ireland will tour Bangladesh in November as they build towards the 2026 T20 World Cup and an expected home Test against New Zealand.

Stirling hopes the upcoming tour will herald the beginning of a considerably busier period for the side.

“We’re obviously disappointed. We can’t hide that fact, we want to play as much cricket as we can.

“Ultimately, we’re going to be judged on our performances on the pitch. To not have consistent cricket which allows you to bring out the best of yourselves throughout a summer is tough. It’s tricky because you’re expected to deal with those things no matter what.

England have travelled without their all-format players currently building towards the winter’s Ashes series, including usual ODI and T20 captain Harry Brook.

In his stead, 21-year-old Jacob Bethell will become the youngest man to captain an England international side.

The toss in Malahide, however, will not be Stirling’s first meeting with the exciting all-rounder. The pair were team-mates at Warwickshire and opened the batting together for Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast during 2022.

“I rocked up to one of the outgrounds for Warwickshire when I was playing my first game for them the next day,” Stirling recalled.

“Jacob Bethell got me out first ball off the train, so that was my first experience of him. He was a superstar, you could see the talent there.

“His ball-striking was so noticeable, it was world class already. To see where he’s got to already is no surprise to me.”

Ireland’s bowling attack will be without Josh Little, Mark Adair and Fionn Hand but are otherwise at full strength.

While England’s squad, which will be led by assistant coach Marcus Trescothick, is much changed from that which faced South Africa last week, Stirling is not expecting the challenge facing Ireland to be lessened.

“Sometimes you see the squad being announced and you can have the take that it’s understrength, but that’s not how I see it,” he added.

“I see 15 extremely talented cricketers all wanting to put their hand up and get to the T20 World Cup.