Confident Ireland takes on Netherlands

Ireland will take on Netherlands on August 15 in Malahide in the ICC Intercontinental Cup for the first time since they have been awarded Full Membership.

The four-day match sees Ireland who are second on 80 points face third-placed Netherlands on 49. Ireland are just one point behind leaders Afghanistan after five matches.

Ireland captain, William Porterfield is confident ahead of the match.

"The squad are really looking forward to getting back into four-day action tomorrow. These fixtures are few and far between so when they come around there is a real buzz in the camp.

"It is a competition that historically we have done well in - winning it four times - and we are keen to extend that run to five, bringing home the 20 points that are up for grabs.

"We have a few injuries with Paul Stirling and Niall O'Brien missing out, so there are two new faces in the squad with top-order batsman Jack Tector called-up, along with paceman Nathan Smith. Both have performed well this season for Ireland Wolves and deserve their opportunity."

Netherlands will be keen to keep in touch with the top two and taking maximum points from the fixture.

Captain Peter Borren is excited by the prospect of playing Ireland.

“This match represents a great opportunity for some of our younger test cricketers to test themselves against a quality team. There is no doubt that we will be put under pressure in this match both as a group and individually. It is a real challenge. I am looking forward to seeing how the guys cope with that pressure.

“Missing four of our more experienced players give us that opportunity. We need to expose some new guys to this level. Ireland have set the benchmark in multiday Associate cricket over the last decade and have been deservedly awarded test status.”

The squads are as follows:

Ireland: William Porterfield (Captain), Peter Chase, Nathan Smith, Simranjit Singh, Barry McCarthy, Jack Tector, Kevin O'Brien, John Anderson, Timothy Murtagh, Andrew Balbirnie, Jacob Mulder, Ed Joyce, Gary Wilson, William Rankin, Stuart Thompson, George Dockrell, Stuart Poynter, James Shannon

Netherlands: Peter Borren (Captain), Wesley Barresi, Ben Cooper, Quirjin Gunning, Frederick Klaassen, Stephan Myburg, Maxwell O’Dowd, Shane Snater, Daniel ter Braak, Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren, Tobias Visee, Asad Zulfiqar, Saqib Zulfiqar

Match Officials

Match Referee – David Jukes

Umpire - Mark Hawthorne

Umpire - Ahsan Raza