Due to financial constraints, Ireland Cricket have cancelled the five-match T20I series against Afghanistan and converted the one-off Test against Bangladesh into a T20I.
Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, has stated that financial challenges faced by the board have been the catalyst for such a decision, even as they aim to build towards becoming a competitive Test side in the long-term.
Ireland have played three Tests since being awarded the full member status in June 2017.
“We were proud to become world cricket's 11th Test playing nation and have a long-term commitment to that format of the game. Both fans and players alike have enjoyed the spectacle of Ireland competing in the Test arena, however we have been very careful in our approach to Test cricket and understand that it is a long-term proposition to build up a competitive side in the long game, and will require significant investment in permanent infrastructure before we can make regular Test cricket financially sustainable," Deutrom said in a statement.
"We have additionally been very open about the financial and resource constraints that we operate within, and especially a number of financial headwinds that we have faced as we transition from an Associate Member to the operations required of a Full Member. The first area of prioritisation for 2020, has been white-ball cricket over red ball."
“Like all Irish cricket fans, we would love nothing more than to be competing on all three fronts — Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. Unfortunately, our financial constraints have led us to cut the home Test match next year.”Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland
Ireland will now be hosting Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan for limited-overs assignments before embarking on their tour to England.
"Those tough decisions also include having to prioritise some white-ball cricket over others," Deutrom said. "However, we have notified the Afghanistan Cricket Board that we shall not be in a position to host them for the five planned T20Is in 2020.”
"The ODIs and remaining T20Is next year both have greater context and direct connections to two upcoming World Cups. The T20Is will form essential match play experience leading into the T20 World Cup in October, while the ODIs will become important with the start of the new World Cup Super League next year, which is the next 50-over World Cup's qualification process. This will mean that in 2020, three of the Bangladesh ODIs and the three New Zealand ODIs next year directly count towards world cup qualification."
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