Birmingham’s Edgbaston Stadium has reached an agreement with Cricket Ireland to host a men’s Twenty20 International (T20I) match between Ireland and Bangladesh on Friday 29 May 2020.
Edgbaston, which is already hosting a One-Day International (ODI) between world champions England and Ireland on Saturday 12 September as part of a seven-day England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) major match programme in 2020, is one of four English venues to be named by Cricket Ireland as a host for the four-match IT20 series.
Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of Edgbaston Stadium and Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said: “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to extend our programme of major match cricket and to bring another international cricket fixture to Birmingham and to the wider West Midlands region.
“Ireland fans bring great colour and noise wherever they play in the world, so we’re very excited to host them for the first time, whilst Bangladesh fans won so many plaudits and created a great atmosphere in their visits to Edgbaston during the ICC men’s Cricket World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.
“Our masterplan for the redevelopment of Edgbaston has been created to ensure that Edgbaston remains one of the leading cricket venues in the world and to enable us to host a broader portfolio of events and fixtures.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Cricket Ireland team and we hope that this can be the start of a partnership, which could lead to further opportunities in the future.”
Ireland’s schedule for the T20I series with Bangladesh begins at the Kia Oval in London on Friday 22 May, with following fixtures at the Essex County Ground in Chelmsford on Sunday 24 and the Bristol County Ground on Wednesday 27 before the fourth and final fixture is played at Edgbaston on Friday 29 May.
Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, said: “Edgbaston is quite simply one of the most iconic and heralded grounds in England, and this will be the first time in 15 years Ireland has played at the ground. We have in fact, back in our Associate days, played Warwickshire three times at the ground, but apart from these encounters, Ireland’s greatest association with Edgbaston is through our players who have played for the County.
“Icons of our game like William Porterfield and Boyd Rankin, as well as one of our brightest emerging talents, Mark Adair, have played in recent times here. We hope to see the local fans, regardless of allegiance, come out and enjoy what will undoubtedly be a competitive spectacle.”
Tickets for the fourth T20I between Ireland and Bangladesh at Edgbaston will be released on-sale at 10am on Monday 16 March and are available from just £10 for adults, with Under 16s priced at £5 throughout the stadium.
