The cricket governing body of Sri Lanka has confirmed that they will welcome Ireland for 2 test series between Sri Lanka and Ireland in the month of April 2023. The declaration that the tour of Ireland next month would now involve two Test encounters has provided Sri Lanka's wish to perform more Test cricket a push. Originally, Ireland's tour of Sri Lanka was originally planned for a single test and 2 ODIs, however, both nations chose to engage in a 2 test match series instead and forgo the 50-over matches. Sri Lanka vs Ireland test series 2023 will commence with the first test from Apr 16, Sun - Apr 20, Thu at Galle International Stadium, Galle. Then the second test will be held in the same stadium from Apr 24, Mon - Apr 28, Fri.
Currently, Sri Lanka is on a tour of New Zealand where they contested the ICC World Test Championship semifinal against New Zealand but they were disappointed on Monday as they lost to the New Zealanders in a nail-biting last over.
For almost 4 years, Ireland did not play any test match, Irish contested its last Test match at Lord's against England in July 2019. Ireland will be in Bangladesh from 18th March to April where they will contest their next test match on 4 April 2023 in 2019. So, Ireland seems prepared to take on four Tests in the next 2 months after just playing three since achieving Full Membership in 2017. However, a drawback is that Ireland hoped to take advantage of the ODIs at the completion of the Sri Lankan campaign as practice for their 3 World Cup Super League matches against Bangladesh in May.
Currently, Andrew Balbirnie is the skipper of the Ireland team and most probably he will lead the squad in the upcoming test series between Sri Lanka and Ireland in 2023. On the other hand, Dimuth Karunaratne will play the role of captain for the Sri Lankan side along with Chris Silverwood as a head coach. In comparison to Sri Lanka, Ireland lack a great deal of experience in the test game but they are skilled enough to learn from their opponent. Currently, Sri Lanka is in the number 7th position whereas Ireland is sitting at the 12th position in the ICC test team ranking. In terms of head-to-head in test matches, this will be the very first time when both the nations face each other in the upcoming test series between SL and Ire 2023. Overall, Ireland appeared in 3 test matches only and they lost all of them, on the other hand, Sri Lanka has appeared in more than 300+ test matches where they achieved victory in 98 matches and lost 118 where 92 matches were draws.
So, let's see how Irish players will perform on the land of Sri Lanka in the upcoming SL vs Ire test series 2023 and how they will accomplish the victory against experienced Sri Lankan players.