England come up against Ireland in return to ODI cricket

One day international cricket will make its highly anticipated return on Thursday as England face Ireland in the first day-nighter of their three-match series,  all matches to be held at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. This series will mark the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, the new-look World Cup qualification tournament.

Delayed, like almost everything else, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Super League is the qualifying campaign for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup hosted in India. The 12 full ICC members plus affiliate nation the Netherlands will all play in three-match ODI series. The top seven sides in the final standings, excluding India who qualify automatically as hosts, will earn automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup.

The one-day series will run almost in direct conjunction with the Test calendar, therefore the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer are not considered for selection for Eoin Morgan’s white-ball side.

Opportunity for some new faces

The absence of some of the big names allows opportunities for some rarely seen young talents at the international level. Somerset opener Tom Banton and Lancashire bowler Saqib Mahmood retain their place in the squad having made their debuts in South Africa at the start of the year.

Disappointingly Lancashire leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson who had been expected to feature will now miss the entire series after picking up an ankle injury in an intra-squad practice match.

Ireland will go into the series as outsiders against the current World Champions. Having missed out on qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Irish who have recently acquired Test status will be keen to show that they can compete against the best in the world.

Kevin O’Brien was the match-winner in Ireland’s only victory against England in the 10 ODI’s played between the two nations. A memorable night Bangalore during an ill-fated 2011 World Cup for England.

O’Brien remains a key member of the team to this day, alongside Middlesex batsman Paul Stirling and one time England representative Boyd Rankin, who has since switched his allegiances back to his country of birth. All players capable of causing the hosts numerous problems throughout the series.

England captain Eoin Morgan will be hopeful his side pick up where they left off in the white-ball formats. Preparation for both the  T20 World World Cup, which was due to be played at the end of the year and has now been postponed and the ICC World Cup 2023 begins here.

England v Ireland Schedule

Thursday 30th July – 1st ODI – Southampton 2.00pm.

Saturday 1st August 2nd ODI – Southampton 2.00pm.

Tuesday 4th August 3rd ODI – Southampton 2.00pm

Elsewhere the England selectors have named an unchanged 14 man squad for the Pakistan test series which gets underway on August 5.

We hope you enjoyed this article “England v Ireland: ODI Series Preview”. Do you think Ireland can cause an upset and defeat England? Let us know!

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• How Will England’s Top Three Look in Test Cricket This Summer?
• Jofra Archer Excluded from Second Test for Breaching COVID-19 Protocol
• The Return of Test Cricket