The games will take place at Stormont on Thursday July 15 and Friday July 16, following Bangladesh’s tour of England. After the games in Belfast, Bangladesh will travel to Scotland, where they will play the hosts in Glasgow on July 19, before taking on The Netherlands at the same venue the following day.
Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom sees the games as an important benchmark for the side saying: "For the last three years or so, we have targetted matches against the lower-ranked full members as the most important means of measuring our progress and determining our readiness to step up to the elite level. All our players will be aware of the perception that strong results against test-playing countries creates, and will be keen to maximise home advantage to good effect in the year that we are applying to move higher in the international firmament."
ICC Europe Regional Development Manager Richard Holdsworth welcomed the fixtures saying, “Bangladesh agreeing to play Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands in one day internationals this summer is a great news for Europe and these countries. Now that all three high performance countries have a number of professional contracted players and two of them are preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, it is a hugely important they have regular competition with the full member countries.”
“ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done has worked hard with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the three high performance countries to get these fixtures agreed and we are thankful to the Bangladesh cricket team for supporting the three European ODI countries on the back of their tour to England this summer. To have such full members playing in our countries is great for the promotion of the game, and gives spectators and supporters another opportunity to watch top level cricket in their countries.”
For Ireland coach Phil Simmons it’s a chance to test his side ahead of the World Cup final in 2011 when the sides will meet: “It’s great that we have a chance to play them on home soil. We lost to them badly in 2008 in Bangladesh but on our home turf I’d be confident of doing well. We have beaten them in both the 2007 World Cup, and in the ICC World Twenty20 last year, so I don’t think there’s much to choose between the two teams. It’s a great opportunity for us to gain valuable ranking points.”
The last time the sides met on Irish soil was back in 2004 when Bangladesh won a last ball thriller at Stormont by two wickets, before completing a 2-0 series win by 54 runs at Limavady.
The fixtures in full are as follows:
Thursday July 15 – Ireland v Bangladesh (Belfast)
Friday July 16 – Ireland v Bangladesh (Belfast)
Monday July 19 – Scotland v Bangladesh (Glasgow)
Tuesday July 20 – Netherlands v Bangladesh (Glasgow)
