ICC President to visit Ireland

Alan Isaac, the newly-elected President of the International Cricket Council, has chosen Ireland as his first official port of call to an Associate Member.

Mr Isaac will visit Dublin next week to watch the first of Ireland's two Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship ODI games against Afghanistan on July 3 and will attend a Cricket Ireland board meeting the following day.

Tim Anderson, the ICC's Global Development Manager, will be accompanying Mr Isaac to both events, while the ICC's newly appointed CEO David Richardson visited Ireland earlier in June.

Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom welcomed the planned visit saying: "It is an honour for us to welcome the ICC President to Ireland.

"It is terrific to have such a strong supporter of Associate Cricket in the ICC presidency, and we are sure that Ireland and Afghanistan will serve up some high quality cricket as we did in our previous match in the final of the ICC World T20 Qualifier back in March. We are also pleased to have Alan attending our Board meeting, and we are certain to benefit from his insight and advice."

Alan Isaac said of the planned visit: "I am delighted to be visiting Ireland and very much looking forward to seeing at first-hand how Cricket Ireland are managing and developing the great game of cricket.

"This will be my first visit as President of the ICC to an Associate Member and I am excited to be able to see the top two non-Test playing countries, in Ireland and Afghanistan, play each other in the first of the two fourth-round ODI fixtures of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League at Clontarf, as well as meet with the various players and stakeholders in Ireland and hear about how the game is progressing."

Ireland and Afghanistan have both qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 (to be held in Sri Lanka in September) and the ICC'S World Twenty20 men's trophy will be on display in Dublin during Mr Isaac's visit.