Ireland will play a Test match against Australia in the next Australian summer as per a Sydney Morning Herald report. It will be Ireland’s first-ever Test outside the United Kingdom, after getting the status of a Test-playing nation in 2017. The Leprechauns made their Test debut against England at Lord’s in 2019.
The landmark Test for the European country will take place at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
Suffering a massive dent in its reputation for overlooking weaker nations, Cricket Australia has drawn up plans to host ‘minnows’ over the next two seasons of cricket.
As per those plans, the Test match between Australia and Afghanistan, initially scheduled for last year, could not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That Test will now take place in the next season just before the home side locks horns with arch-rivals England in the Ashes.
The move to host two minnows—Afghanistan and Irelan in two consecutive Australian summers has been taken in wake of Cricket Australia coming under pressure for overlooking weaker teams and dumping series planned as per the Future Tour Programme (FTP) of the ICC.