Ireland’s cricketers are in a good place at the moment.
Last weekend, the women’s side came through the qualifiers in Nepal and will play in this summer’s T20 World Cup finals which will be held in England and Wales.
The men’s squad start their T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka, one of the hosts, in their opening Group B game on Sunday in Colombo (1.30pm Irish time).
The finals, which officially start on Friday, will also feature Italy for the first time. Ireland legend Kevin O’Brien is one of the Azzurri’s coaches, while Roly Black is an umpires at the tournament. Black is the first Irish-based umpire to be selected to stand at a T20 World Cup.
Ireland’s group also contains Australia, Oman and Zimbabwe, with Paul Stirling’s side looking to move into the next phase of the competition, the Super 8s.
“The Sri Lanka game is first up, and hopefully there’s a little bit more pressure on the home side with 35,000 of their own fans cheering for them,” Stirling told RTÉ sport.
“I think we’ve got match winners on our side, and our best players have got to stand up when it matters. I suppose that’s what’s going to count come those first couple of games, but we are not looking too far further ahead than the Sri Lanka game.
“We just have to look inside our own dressing room and make sure that we’re best prepared and give it our all out there.”
“There’s certainly no complaints with leading up into these World Cup games with how well prepared we’re going to be.”
Ireland last played in the T20 finals, the shorter format of the game, when it was held in the USA in 2024, but they were eliminated before the second phase after logistical problems and the abandonment of games sent Ireland home early.
“We actually had a brilliant build-up leading up to that USA World Cup where we managed to get some victories in the warm-up games and the confidence was extremely high,” added Stirling.
“But it sort of jumped off a cliff at the end when we got out there with the conditions we were faced with.
“There’s certainly no complaints with leading up into these World Cup games with how well prepared we’re going to be, and the excuses of a lack of cricket certainly won’t be there by the time we play.”
Ireland have had a number of warm-up games prior to the finals, beating Italy 2-1 in a three-match series and overcoming the UAE 2-0 before the Pakistan game, which was due to be played on Wednesday, was abandoned due to rain.
Ireland played very little cricket last season for one reason or another, but 2026 is a lot busier, with series lined up against the likes New Zealand, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after the T20 finals in Sri Lanka.
“Yeah, it was challenging certainly,” admitted Stirling.
“My background comes from developing my game in the (English) county system, where if you’re not playing first-team cricket for 100 days of the year, you’re playing second-team cricket for 80 of them.
“My own personal game is coming back to that system where there’s just less cricket. I’ve had to change the way I approach my preparation, and I suppose ultimately the amount of batting that I can get done during the week.
“When there’s 15 fixtures a year, you hope you go in in good nick and score runs, and you hope it combines into a great day for yourself personally and the team.
“But I know when you play 30 or 40 games a year, especially in national colours, that there’s more expectation on results because your judgement on players and form and selection and all those types of things are more accurate.”
Paul Stirling is hoping Ireland’s big players step up over the next few weeks
Stirling, 35, once touted by Eoin Morgan to potentially make the switch from Ireland to England, is now captain of both the Irish one-day and T20 squads.
“Yeah, I’m loving it,” he added.
“It’s certainly challenging, but that’s what you want. If everything was easy, everyone would do it.
“I think the tough bit for me is making sure I’m absolutely focused on my own job outside of what the team needs and expects from their captain as well.
“When I am batting, you know when to switch on. You know when the ball’s dead and when you can relax. I find that bit slightly easier.
“But in the field, I’m constantly thinking about bowling changes or tactics or where you are in the game, what needs to be done.
“It is all-consuming, but again, that’s part of it. That’s what you sign up to.”
And for the upcoming T20 finals, Stirling acknowledges that, despite a good build-up and the return of top-line players like bowler Mark Adair and all-rounder Curtis Campher from injury, Ireland will have to be at the top of their game especially against the likes of Sri Lanka and Australia.
“Look, if we’re going to win games against those big teams, we probably need a few things to go in our favour.
“Dew is always a factor in Sri Lanka because of the humidity and then it just sits at night, which obviously makes the ball slippy and makes it harder for spinners to turn the ball or bowlers to get their yorkers in and pitch it in the right area.
“So, if all of those areas of the game start shifting in your favour, where you might be batting second and it’s hard for the opposition to grip the ball, those sorts of things will add up to the result at the end of the day.
“I think Sri Lankan conditions are the most challenging in the world, certainly from what I’ve experienced. They’re extremely hot and humid and they really test everything; fitness, skills, the works.
“So, we’re really, really looking forward to it, but we have got the squad that can do it.”
A total of 20 teams will take part in the tournament, divided into four groups of five.
Nations will play against each other once in the group stage and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 8 round.
Ireland’s T20 World cup fixtures
Sunday 8 February: Ireland v Sri Lanka, Colombo
Wednesday 11 February: Ireland v Australia, Colombo
Saturday 14 February: Ireland v Oman, Colombo
Tuesday 17 February: Ireland v Zimbabwe, Kandy