Cricket:Cricket Ireland announced fixture details for the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka at the end of January after their Intercontinental Cup clash with Afghanistan.
Ireland will meet Sri Lanka ‘A’, Canada and Afghanistan when the tournament gets under way from January 31st to February 4th in Colombo. It will serve as a warm-up to the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in early February.
Phil Simmons’ side will also take on Afghanistan in a four-day Intercontinental Cup match in Sri Lanka before the quadrangular tournament.
"This will give the squad a good work-out ahead of the UAE leg of the tour,” said Simmons. “It'll get the players into the mindset of the shorter format of the game.
We still haven't played a lot of 20 over cricket, although the experience of playing in the finals in England last year will help us.
“There are only two places up for grabs for the finals in the West Indies, but I and the players want to make it four in a row in terms of qualifying for the major tournaments.”
Ireland’s Early 2010 Schedule:
January - 23-26: Intercontinental Cup: Afghanistan v Ireland, Sri Lanka. 31: T20 Quadrangular: Ireland v Sri Lanka A, Colombo.
February - 1: T20 Quadrangular: Ireland v Canada, Colombo; 3: T20 Quadrangular: Ireland v Afghanistan, Colombo; 4: T20 Quadrangular Final and 3/4 play-off, Colombo.; 9: ICC World T20 Qualifier: Ireland v Afghanistan, Dubai; 10: ICC World T20 Qualifier: Ireland v USA, Abu Dhabi; 11: ICC World T20 Qualifier: Ireland v Scotland, Dubai; 12: ICC World T20 Qualifier: Super Fours, Dubai; 13: ICC World T20 Qualifier: Super Fours and Final, Dubai.