SA to visit Ireland in July for historic first full limited-overs tour

Johannesburg, Feb 15: South Africa will embark on a historic first full limited-overs tour of Ireland in July, the country's cricket board said on Monday.

The matches are scheduled to be played from July 11-25 and will comprise three ODIs, that will form part of the ICC's Cricket World Cup Super League programme, and three T20 Internationals. The matches will be played in Malahide and Stormont.

"It is the first time the Proteas will tour Ireland for more than one game, with their only other visit being in June 2007 when they played an ODI in Belfast," Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement.

"The tour marks a significant new chapter in our history as we visit one of the fast-developing cricket nations for a six-match tour," said CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith.

The Proteas have played and beaten Ireland in five ODIs over the years, including meetings at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 ICC Cricket World Cups. Their last showdown was during a one-match tour to South Africa by the Irish in 2016.

The two countries have never met in a T20 International. Smith said Ireland have shown themselves to be highly competitive opponents in recent years, with a growing profile in the world game.

"It will also offer our players further international action in unfamiliar conditions, so we are looking forward to the contest," Smith said.

Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, said, "Given the significant changes to the FTP due to the postponement of home series from 2020 – and all other countries having to reschedule fixtures over the period 2020-2023 – it has truly been a jigsaw puzzle for world cricket administrators to try to make the pieces fit.

"We look forward to the season ahead and thank our touring opponents for working with us on this restructured season. For our senior men, there are six World Cup Super League matches included in the schedule, in which we welcome back South Africa who last played here 14 years ago."