Ireland look to end winter well

Did we miss anything? Well there’s a Women’s tour to South Africa before Christmas, an Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia in January, plus whichever additional T20Is can be arranged before the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Beginning with matters on the field, how important will the games this winter really be?

After a difficult couple of qualifier events for Ireland Women, the side will be desperate to reach a T20I World Cup being staged in England next year. Not only is it the team’s preferred format, but the short trip across the Irish sea would be ideal for fans to travel to the tournament.

 

Ireland Men meanwhile will be eager to put in a strong showing at the 2026 Men’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka after a challenging campaign in the USA for the 2024 edition.

The Ireland Women’s tour to South Africa marks the start of a new ICC ODI Championship cycle which could lead to direct qualification for an ODI World Cup even if it’s not their likeliest path to a 50-over tournament. Gaby Lewis and her team will also want to start well to build on the very clear progress made during their run in the last championship.

Ireland Under-19s Men put in a very strong performance at the 2024 World Cup in South Africa; finishing in 8th place overall to secure automatic qualification for the next tournament. They also became the first Irish side to defeat New Zealand.

Head coach Pete Johnston has spoken about possibly even targeting a semi-final spot at the upcoming event in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Results aside, this youth World Cup is crucial to make sure progress is sustained and the Irish pathway pipeline continues to do its job. No pressure at all.

Off the field, interim CEO Ross McCollum and Cricket Ireland Chairperson Brian McNeise are working hard to secure a lucrative trip by India Men to Ireland for a handful of white ball games in 2026. There’s the reconfiguration of the Men’s Inter-Provincial competition, and of course the ETPL. New CEO Sarah Keane will also get her feet under the desk on March 1st 2026 and will want to hit the ground running.

Did we miss anything? It all adds up to a crucial few months. All of this is not to say the future of the game in Ireland relies on how well the next few months go. The game in Ireland will go on. But the coming events if they go a particular way could be instrumental in the strength of the sport on the island.

Reporting on the current test series between Ireland and Bangladesh can be found on Dave Sihra’s Substack Dave Meets Ball.

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