Irish Cricket has been given a roadmap of the countries that will be visiting here over the next four years and it is a mouth-watering feast for fans of the sport.

The highlight of 2023 will be a test match against England and a series of One Day Internationals across the water though only Zimbabwe will be touring here.

2024 will be a bonanza year though with Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe all coming to Ireland for a total of 20 international matches.

The new four-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the men’s game is designed by the International Cricket Council to develop the nations that are bidding to close the gap on the traditional powerhouse countries and will see Ireland Men play 113 matches against Full Members between May 2023 and April 2027.

There is a similar programme underway for the Women’s team which will see them hosting England here in 2024, and touring the West Indies in 2023.

The men will start 2023 with tours of Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as part of the current 2019-2023 FTP, before the new 2023-2027 FTP begins in May.

They are set to play 12 Test matches, 54 one-day internationals and 47 T20 Internationals against fellow Full Member sides. The programme outlined does not include the fixtures against Associate Members, which will be announced in due course.

The FTP fixtures are all outside of further international matches to be played as part of ICC events – the first such ICC event may be the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in June-July 2023 (if Ireland doesn’t automatically qualify through the World Cup Super League).

“The release of the new ICC Future Tours Programme marks yet another milestone in the progress Irish cricket has made over recent years, ” said Cricket Ireland CEO, Warren Deutrom.

“The quality and the volume of international cricket for Irish fans to enjoy is something previous generations only dreamt about.

“Starting with Bangladesh at home, then heading straight to a Test match against England is a mouth-watering start to the new programme – and all of that following three tours during the early months of the year.

“During the period 2023-2027, Ireland Men will play matches against all 11 of the other Full Member sides, in 113 fixtures scheduled outside of ICC tournaments. Pleasingly, this will also include 12 Test matches – a format we as a country are keen to pursue more over coming years, whilst understanding that qualification for world cups remains a key priority.

“It’s also important to note that the FTP announced today does not include bilateral fixtures against Associate nations, which will also be added to Ireland Men’s playing schedule over coming years.

“The ability, as a Full member, to be able to lock in multiple years’ worth of bilateral cricket is important for Cricket Ireland, as it allows us to plan ahead and pursue revenue streams with a greater level of certainty. This revenue, from areas such as broadcast and sponsorship, goes back into the game at all levels, helping us to deliver on growing the game across Ireland.

“This men’s FTP, combined with the women’s FTP announced yesterday, means we have an incredibly busy few years ahead for Irish cricket fans to enjoy.”