Ireland arrive in Barbados for historic Windies tour

Minnows Ireland arrived on Saturday to begin their limited overs series against West Indies which bowls off in 10 days with a day/night One-Day International at Kensington Oval.

Ireland are scheduled to play a three-match series in both the ODI and Twenty20 format, marking the first time the two teams will face each other in a full series.

Both white-ball sides will be led by Andrea Balbirnie, who last month succeeded William Porterfield.

Graham Ford, Ireland’s head coach, said the tourists were excited about the possibilities on the Caribbean tour.

“There is a confidence and self-belief around the camp which comes from recent successes, and we’re looking to build on that in 2020,” he said recently.

“Being our first-ever multi-format tour of the Caribbean, there is certainly a bit of a buzz around the squad and come the seventh of January, we’ll be more than ready to begin what is an exciting year in Irish cricket.”

The second ODI is also scheduled for Kensington Oval here on January 9, with the Grenada National Stadium hosting the final ODI.

Grenada will also stage the opening T20 International on January 12 before Warner Park in St Kitts plays host to back-to-back matches on January 18 and 19.

West Indies have beaten Ireland in seven of 10 ODIs and two of four T20s to date.

SQUADS: ODI – Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

T20I – Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.