The Ireland Men’s cricket team are currently in Essex for a crucial three-match One-Day international series against Bangladesh.
Should Ireland win the series 3-0 they could qualify automatically for the 2023 Cricket World Cup to be held in India later this year.
That would lift them above South Africa into an automatic qualifier position, but would also require an improvement in their run rate.
The likelihood is that they will be faced with a trip to the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June, joining the likes of Sri Lanka, West Indies, Scotland and hosts Zimbabwe for the two remaining places in the World Cup.
More game time is important and this series with games on the 9th, 12th and 14th is important in that regard.
The sides have met 13 times in this format with Ireland winning twice, at the 2007 World Cup and in Belfast in 2010.
Today’s game and the two other fixtures are being shown live here on Premier Sports.
The games are being played in England due to scheduling and to save the cost of creating a ground in Ireland. The sides were to have met in Belfast in 2020 but that series was a victim of Covid lockdowns.
