Ahead of the 10-team World Cup in England in mid-2019, Ireland will play host to four WC participants - England, Windies, Bangladesh and Afghanistan - helping them tune up for the mega tournament while also providing the home crowd with a chance of seeing their stars in action. Zimbabwe, who narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification, will then tour the country in July to play three ODIs and as many T20Is.
After the home extravaganza, Ireland will get to play two Test matches - against Afghanistan in Dehradun and against England at Lord's © Getty
As one of two latest full members of the ICC, alongside Afghanistan, Ireland will see as many as 16 internationals games being hosted in the country in the period between May 3 to July 13, 2019. In a tightly-packed schedule, Ireland will be hosting a game every other day, before taking a break prior to the Zimbabwe series.
Ireland will first host England at the Malahide Cricket Club for a one-off ODI on May 3rd, and then line up alongside Windies and Bangladesh in a tri-series that sees the teams play four games each before a final. Clontarf Cricket Club and Malahide share hosting duties for the series. The series kicks off on May 5, with the final slated to be played at Malahide on the 17th.
Afghanistan's first game is chalked in after two days, with the Asian country playing two ODIs - on May 19 and 21 - at Stormont.
"While 2018 was a breakthrough year in many ways for Irish cricket, 2019 is set to be another momentous year for our sport. Next season we will host five Full Member nations - with a number of the teams having not played here for many years," Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, said.
"In all, we will be hosting eight matches in Dublin and eight matches across Northern Ireland. The venues have been chosen to spread the fixture load across our four international-rated grounds - with five matches at Malahide, three at Clontarf, five at Stormont and three at Bready. The configuration of fixtures also allows teams involved in the Tri-Series to all be located in the same city to reduce travel impacts and maximise training and acclimatisation opportunity for those sides as part of their build-up to Cricket World Cup 2019."
The cramped home schedule is sandwiched between two high profile overseas outings for the Irish team. They will head to India in February next year to play a full series against Afghanistan, which includes their first ever overseas Test, while they also have a short trip across to England in July for another Test (four-day game) at the iconic Lord's stadium.