Ireland coach Heinrich Malan expects his side to face a formidable challenge against England in the forthcoming three-match T20 series, despite the visitors selecting a largely understrength squad for the games at Malahide.
England have opted to rest white-ball captain Harry Brook and other all-format players before this winter’s Ashes series.
Jacob Bethell, 21, will become the youngest man to captain England in an international, with Jordan Cox also rewarded for his outstanding form in The Hundred.
The fixtures will represent the first time the sides have met in T20s in Ireland, with the first encounter being played on Wednesday, 17 September, followed by further matches on Friday and Sunday.
The teams have played twice in T20s before, with their 2010 meeting ending as a no result and Ireland winning by five runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at the T20 World Cup in Melbourne in 2022.
“We obviously don’t have anything to do with who they select; they have a depth of player that is really competitive. They’ve still got lots of good players, lots of quality,” said Malan.
“There’s still some experience within their squad and a sprinkle of some youth who have all shown their worth in The Hundred so we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a quality side and we have to make sure we do our homework and rock up prepared.
“We look at their squad and we plan accordingly.”
England are coming off a drawn T20 series against South Africa while in contrast Ireland have not been in action since losing against West Indies over the same format 1-0 in June, with two games abandoned.
“We’ve worked really hard in the background, working away at our skill level, there’s been a bit of domestic cricket in there too,” explained the Ireland coach of the activity over the past three months.
“Hopefully we can get three good games of cricket against England and put our best foot forward.
“Any time we play England, we know there’s a nice rivalry between the teams and it has been like that over the years.”