Ireland announce dates for three-match ODI series against Bangladesh

After scrapping the one-off Test match against Bangladesh which was scheduled at home next year, Cricket Ireland has announced the dates and venues of a three-match ODI series against the same opponents that will take place in Stormont in May. The two teams are also set to play in a T20I series featuring four games after the 50-over format but the venues for those games will only be confirmed in January as some grounds in England are also under consideration.

The first ODI will take place on May 14 while the next two games will be held on May 16 and 19. Bangladesh have a 7-2 lead over Ireland in the ODIs and also won a tri-series held in that country earlier this year that also featured West Indies. They had also drawn an away ODI series 1-1 against Ireland in 2010. In the T20Is, too, the Tigers defeated Ireland 3-1 and had thumped them 3-0 in a series in the same format in 2012.

The two teams were also supposed to play a Test match but Ireland authorities cancelled it because of financial reasons. They had planned a home Test match for the second time in history but it was made into a T20 fixture. They are yet to play in a Test match after Ireland made their debut in the long format in 2018. Ireland also cancelled a planned T20I series against Afghanistan because of the same reason.

Cricket Ireland CEO loaned own money to bail it out

Cricket Ireland’s financial woes have been so bad recently that none other than its chief executive officer Warren Deutrom loaned the body USD 112,000 of his own money to meet the creditors’ demand. Had there not been his direct intervention, the players and board workers would not get their salaries and various bills would have remained unpaid, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The board replaced the Test match with a T20I as the cost of hosting a five-day game was coming around $1.14 million. The country, which is still new in the cricketing maps, has concentrated on the shortest format following a shortfall in the funding from the International Cricket Council.

Watch: Quinton de Kock’s brilliant run out in MSL 2019