Ireland’s near-empty cricket summer in stark contrast to stacked England slate

Ireland players stand for the national anthems before the first match of the ODI series between Ireland and West Indies at Clontarf in Dublin. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile/Getty Images

For England this is the end of another unrelenting summer. Three Twenty20 internationals over the coming days will make it eight white-ball matches inside three weeks, excluding a rain-abandoned game against South Africa. Jacob Bethell is captain because Harry Brook merits a lie down in a dark room. For Ireland, their opponents in Malahide, north Dublin, it is a radically different story.

“It feels like the start of our winter programme,” says Paul Stirling, Ireland’s white-ball captain. “We haven’t played a home international series since the West Indies in June. It feels like we’ve closed the summer.” Those three T20s in Bready three months ago included two washouts, adding to an already shrinking itinerary.