Stormont set to host New Zealand Test in 2026
Belfast venue set to host back-to-back home Ireland Tests two years apart
Stormont is being lined up to host Ireland’s home Test against New Zealand at the beginning of next summer.
This will be the second consecutive Irish Test hosted by the Belfast venue after Andrew Balbirnie’s side beat Zimbabwe in July 2024. It would be the third Test match on Irish soil since Ireland became ICC full members in 2017.
According to the Future Tours Programme, New Zealand are slated to play one red ball game in Ireland before their three-match tour of England. Their first Test against Ben Stokes’ side starts on June 4th, leaving a Belfast Test during the last week of May as a possibility.
This would be the first ever Test match between Ireland and New Zealand. The Blackcaps were last on Irish soil in 2022 for a six-game white ball series. Harry Tector memorably hit his first international century during an ODI in Malahide before Michael Bracewell’s late heroics denied Ireland victory.
While specific games were not discussed, when speaking after Ireland’s washed out second T20I against England, CI chair Brian MacNeice confirmed that Ireland would be hosting Test cricket next summer.
The FTP lists a pair of red-ball games in Ireland in 2026. It remains unclear if a slated Test against Afghanistan will go ahead alongside the New Zealand game. When asked if both Test matches will take place, MacNeice said that a number of variables remained at play.
“We’re working through the schedule for ‘26,” he said. “I know we’re going to have a very exciting schedule for ‘26. There’s still a couple of variables that have to be figured out before we lock in on the final schedule. But we’ll be playing and hosting Test cricket next year.”
This summer, Ireland were due to host Afghanistan for a Test match alongside six white ball games. That visit was cancelled due to financial reasons. In 2026, Afghanistan are once again scheduled to tour on an all-format trip.
One potential complication is the European T20 Premier League’s decision to move its window from late July/early August to late August/early September. That appears to create a clear clash with the proposed Afghanistan series.
MacNeice made clear his desire for Ireland to play red ball cricket going forward. They will play two Tests in Bangladesh this winter, despite CI’s request that their upcoming tour be trimmed to a one-off Test. The BCB preferred to keep both red ball matches, instead cutting the ODI portion of the tour. What was listed as a two-Test, three-ODI and three-T20 tour will now feature a pair of Tests and three T20s.
The first Test is expected to start on November 11th. MacNeice acknowledged that finances were at play in the CI request, while also pointing to scheduling priorities.
“We’ve got a T20 World Cup coming up but then pretty quickly after that we’re going to be involved for an ODI World Cup qualifier,” he said. “We need to increase the volume of ODI cricket. Our preference is for more ODI cricket than Test cricket in that series.
“It’s not exclusively a financial decision, it’s a scheduling piece as well. We’ve got obligations in terms of reciprocal arrangements. So when we are hosted by another full member, we have to reciprocate and we have to balance the volume of cricket that we have planned.
“A two-Test, three-ODI, three-T20 series hosted when Bangladesh come here, with the other activity that we have, it didn’t quite make sense for us. One element is the reciprocal arrangement, another element is the formats we want to be playing. There’s a number of different factors that went into that.”
Alongside the New Zealand and Afghanistan visits, Bangladesh are the third country scheduled to tour Ireland next year. According to the FTP, they will play three T20s and three ODIs. India are also a possible visitor, as revealed by ex-CEO Warren Deutrom recently to the BBC.
Cricket Ireland will confirm their 2026 schedule at the end of this year at the earliest, once next year’s budget is approved by the board.
Fix This Fixture
this is my half-working mantra, as in Fix I mean set rather than repair.
this has come following conservations in the real world and twitter and cemented by listening to Ally's and your Podcast
Tests are special, they have their own narrative, make their own memories specially in test starved Ireland. When we finally relinquished our temporary Malahide membership on Sunday, and got the 8pm train back to Dublin, shared a carriage with some Irish Ireland fan's and in the conversation found that 4 of us had been at Lords for day 1 of 2019 test, and shared vivid memories. I very much doubt that if we met up in 6 years time any of us would recall much of the 3rd T20.
This will be Ireland's first game of the Season, and it's a test and it's against New Zealand, not one of our fellow non-WTC teams or a team that would likely join us in the second tier if 2 division test structure ever happens.
Additionally, I suspect that this will be their last match before they play at Lord's, so they will be attempting to secure their place when the IPL players return, it is a golden opportunity. So why not fix the date, the latest they can start is 27th May, but I doubt that New Zealand would voluntarily give themselves the headache of back-to-back tests
So this really only leaves Friday 22nd May as a possible starting date, as it gives NZ sufficient recovery time, and for CI they should be able to play a full(ish) 4th day on the Bank Holiday Monday.
To get totally self-indulgent, i can currently book a return flight from Birmingham, landing at 9 on the Friday, so having a fair chance of seeing the 1st delivery and returning 8pm on the Monday, for £84, but how long will that last and then the costs become prohibitive.
So please CI just tell us and soon
Great news that Ireland will be hosting a test next year. Simultaneously the use of "a" is disappointing.
Further, the accompanying news of CI focus on matches being played, is also encouraging, this year, hoping that Sunday's current forecast holds true, Ireland's men will havei completed a desultory 5 matches in 4 summer months.
Next year's test and Bangladesh's white ball series will push that to a still insufficient maximum of 11 days, but there is still the potential of that doubling if the Afghanistan tour and the India games happen.
I wonder, after these 2 barren summers, what the minimum number of days cricket Ireland fans would accept
The ETPL's time of death still has not been called, but we do seem to have gotten down to agonal breathing.
The new timetable of late August early September at least means there is a window to grab the public's attention for international cricket, while the bigger team sports in Ireland are having their summer breaks,
I don't want to get too tin-foil hat about it, but the EPTL timing, perfectly overlapping with fthe 100 and CPL, almost seems designed to bring about it's demise. And, like putting your daughter's new boyfriend at the end of any family photos, cropping him from the image, when that relationship turns to dust, will not spoil the picture, so will next year's season when the ETPL is cancelled again, at least fans can focus on the club finals and league championship
Finally, getting back to one of my obsessions. Albeit from a very selfish standpoint
When will the date and venue of the New Zealand test be confirmed. I suspect the test against them will have better broadcasting rights possibilities than Afghanistan.
I don't know what the natural capacity at Stormont,before ensuring the costs of temporary stand, is. Whatever that number is, I want to sell the Sold Out signs on the gate, as I have at Malahide yesterday.
At least 2 days of the Test will be working week, so anyone working, who are wishing to attend will have to book time off work, and these a finite, all too soon family holidays are booked and the very little is left for attending matches Additionally this is Ireland and it's sub-tropical climate, so only the most optimistic of fans would focus on only coming to one day. So securing accommodation at lowish prices will also be an issue
So how soon will this be inked in, I'm sitting here with my all my tickets for next year's matches for England already purchased. The great news about a New Zealand test, is that there is no chance of an overlap, unlike the Ire-Zim test at Stormont and the Eng-WI at Edgbaston