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Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie says a win over England in the one-off four-day Test between the sides at Lord’s this week would represent “the biggest moment in Irish cricket history”.
Ireland have previously beaten England in Twenty20 and 50-over cricket.
Ireland lost when the sides played for the first time in Test cricket in 2019.
“When I was first capped as an Irish cricketer, if you told me I’d be playing two Tests at Lord’s I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Balbirnie.
“In my opinion it is one of the best sporting arenas in the world so for me to lead my country out here is special for me and my family.
“It’ll probably test my captaincy to the limit but it’s really ‘pinch yourself’ stuff in Irish cricket. It’s special times.
“The captain thing hasn’t quite sunk in yet – I think it only will on the morning of the toss.”
With four years having elapsed since the last red-ball encounter between the sides, a lot has changed in the Ireland camp as they prepare to take on England.
“There is a lot of excitement as a number of players in the group haven’t played here before so to see the buzz in the dressing room is pretty special,” said Balbirnie.
“It’s a big week for us as a team and an organisation. You don’t get too many chances to play Test matches at Lord’s.
“I was fortunate to be here for the last one and obviously we will take it in and soak it up, but at the same time we’re here to do a job and compete with one of the best Test sides in the world.
“We want to focus on the job in hand and it’s important for us to play each ball on its merit and not get caught up with how good they could possibly be.
“If we play pretty good cricket we can compete but Test cricket is different because you have to do it for longer periods.
“They are more equipped for that with their experience, but hopefully we can put on a show for the crowd and for the Irish supporters who are coming to watch us.”
As in 2019, England are using the Test against Ireland as preparation for their forthcoming Ashes series against Australia and Balbirnie is impressed by the quality of cricket they have been playing over the last year.
“The brand of cricket they’ve started playing in the last 12 months, you can’t take your eyes off it,” he enthused.
“It’ll be exciting to see it first hand and also find ways to combat it and keep up with it. We know it’s going to be really difficult.
“You never lose that buzz when you come through the gates [of Lord’s]. I was fortunate to play here with Middlesex, though I didn’t play a whole lot, while Paul Stirling played a lot of games and scored a lot of runs so his knowledge will be valuable to the group.”
