Foster, a 24-year-old tempo bowler who represents Northern Knights and CSNI in Ireland’s home competitions, is one in every of 4 uncapped gamers in a much-changed Take a look at squad from the one which confronted Afghanistan in 2019.
Barry McCarthy, Theo van Woerkom and Craig Younger are additionally in competition for debuts when the one-off Take a look at will get underway in Abu Dhabi on February 28, for which Andrew Balbirnie will proceed as captain.
Three ODIs and three T20Is will then comply with in Sharjah between March 7 and 18, with Paul Stirling – Balbirnie’s white-ball successor, who final 12 months grew to become one in every of solely 25 gamers to attain a century throughout all three codecs – set to steer in each series.
After attaining a clear sweep of their ODI and T20I series in Zimbabwe in December, Ireland underwent a coaching camp in Spain final week, and can fly out to the UAE 5 days forward of the Take a look at to acclimatise.
“We’ve performed a number of cricket during the last decade in this a part of the world, so the circumstances ought to be considerably acquainted to the gamers – albeit, predominantly in the white ball codecs,” Andrew White, Ireland’s selector, mentioned. “Whereas there was a 12-week hole, the squad ought to carry some confidence and momentum into this series from the profitable tour of Zimbabwe in December.”
Solely 5 members of the Take a look at squad featured in Ireland’s seven-wicket defeat in Dehradun in 2019, with White acknowledging that they’d undergone “an unlimited transformation” throughout codecs since that final multi-format tour.
“This series is a vital one in our preparations forward of a giant summer time, which incorporates the T20 World Cup,” he mentioned. “That is at all times a highly-anticipated contest and I might count on this to be a hard-fought series – one I am very a lot trying ahead to.”
Take a look at squad: Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie (capt), Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woerkom, Craig Younger.
ODI squad: Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling (capt), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woerkom, Craig Younger.
T20I squad: Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling (capt), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Younger.
