Lord’s to host England-Ireland Test match

LONDON: England’s historic first Test match against Ireland will be played at Lord’s next July. Ireland made their Test debut against Pakistan at Malahide in May and in 2019 they will head to London for a four-day match against England at the home of cricket from July 24-27. It will be the first ever meeting between the two local rivals in the game’s longest format. The clash is the precursor to next year’s Ashes series between England and Australia, which begins at Edgbaston on August 1. Lord’s hosts the second Ashes Test followed by Headingley, Old Trafford and the Oval. ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: “We fully supported the ICC’s decision to award full membership to Cricket Ireland and we expect next summer’s inaugural Test match at Lord’s against our neighbours to be an historic celebration for all Irish cricket fans. “It will also provide excellent Ashes preparation for England against an Irish team whose impressive performance against Pakistan earlier this year showed they can compete strongly in this form of the game.”