Photo Credit: Matthew Smith
Irish international Simi Singh was talking about his fondness for Malahide, the upcoming New Zealand series and his century against South Africa in his last match at the historic Dublin ground that will host the Ireland Men’s One-Day International series against New Zealand to be played from 10-15 July 2022.
Singh, 35, debuted against New Zealand at Malahide in 2017. He has played 33 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Ireland since then and was named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2021.
Last year, batting at 8, Singh struck his maiden international century against South Africa in an ODI at Malahide.
Speaking before training, Singh was asked about the upcoming New Zealand series:
“They’re a top team, but we’ve played against a lot of top teams in the recent past – I think ranking is just a number. We have played India, West Indies, South Africa and now New Zealand – there’s not much difference in quality, they are all world-class sides, but we have faced this challenge before and we’re looking forward to the series here at our home ground.”
Did he remember well that day in July 2021 when he scored his century?
“I remember it clearly – it was a great day for the team. We did really well in that series – and that last match was a great hundred for me personally, it was a big milestone. I started playing my club cricket here in this ground, so to score a century was an unbelievable feeling.”
What were his memories of his debut against the Black Caps in 2017 here at Malahide:
“I remember that day well, it was a special day for me, at the ground I started my club cricket on. I had a great time playing club cricket here at Malahide, so to make my international debut here was amazing not only for me, but my family as well. They were watching the game on TV, so it was a happy day all round.”
The last ODIs Ireland played were in January in the Caribbean when Ireland won the series 2-1, how much confidence can the squad draw from that result?
“That was an important series for us, and a great effort. We had a few players missing due to Covid. But despite that, the boys really stood up, so I think we’re quite confident in our game plans going into this ODI series.”
Having recently become a father for the first time, how is that adjustment in life going?
“Yeah, it’s definitely a change in my schedule, sleep-wise, but being a father has changed my outlook on life completely – when you go home you can switch off from cricket and just concentrate on your family, so it’s been a great addition to life.”
IRELAND MEN’S ODI SQUAD
Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
FIXTURE SCHEDULE
Ireland Men v New Zealand Men ODI series
• Sunday 10 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 1st ODI (Malahide; start time 10.45am) – Sold out
• Tuesday 12 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 2nd ODI (Malahide; start time 10.45am)
• Friday 15 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 3rd ODI (Malahide; start time 10.45am)
The ODI series will be followed by a T20I series:
• Monday 18 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 1st T20I (Stormont; start time 4pm)
• Wednesday 20 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 2nd T20I (Stormont; start time 4pm)
• Friday 22 July: Ireland v New Zealand, 3rd T20I (Stormont; start time 4pm)
TICKETS
Tickets are available to buy online at www.cricketireland.ie/tickets.
BROADCAST DETAILS
In Republic of Ireland and the UK, matches will be shown on BT Sport as follows:
• 1st ODI – BT Sport ESPN
• 2nd ODI – BT Sport 2
• 3rd ODI – BT Sport 2
• 1st T20 – BT Sport 1
• 2nd T20 – BT Sport 1
• 3rd T20 – BT Sport 3
For the rest of the world, the broadcast details are:
• New Zealand: Spark Sport
• India: FanCode
• Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport
• Caribbean: Flow Sports
• MENA: Etisalat
• South East Asia: Eleven
• US: Willow
RADIO / DIGITAL COVERAGE
talkSPORT (www.talksport.com) will be providing commentary of the series.
As one of the world’s biggest sports radio stations, talkSPORT has a commentary team that includes Tim Murtagh, Steve Harmison, broadcasters Neil Manthorp, Jarrod Kimber, Andrew McKenna and talkSPORT’s Cricket Editor Jon Norman.
To follow the action, download the talkSPORT app, re-tune your DAB radio in the UK, listen at talkSPORT.com or tell your smart speaker to ‘play talkSPORT 2’.
Along with talkSPORT’s online coverage in the Republic of Ireland, talkSPORT is also linking up with its sister stations, FM104 and Q102 in Dublin, 96FM and C103 in Cork, Live 95 in Limerick, LMFM in Drogheda and U105 in Belfast, so listeners can hear extended coverage, with live guests, highlights and player reaction.
LIVESCORING
Livescoring will be available at: https://live.nvplay.com/ireland/#
WORLD CUP SUPER LEAGUE
Matches played as part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (2020-2023) are essentially World Cup Qualifier matches, as the League will serve as part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualification process. See the current WCSL table as it stands.
The WCSL features thirteen teams, the twelve Full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Netherlands (who won the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for this competition). Each team will play an ODI series against eight of the twelve opponents, four series at home and four away. Each series will consist of three ODIs. For the World Cup, the hosts (India in 2023), and the top seven-ranked sides thereafter, will qualify automatically. The remaining five teams will play in a qualifying event along with five Associate sides, from which two sides will go through to the final tournament.
