Paul Stirling urging Ireland to make "fresh start" ahead of T20 opener against Zimbabwe in Harare

Ireland will be hoping to bounce back after struggling in the World Cup qualifiers in Junewhen they lost to Oman, Scotland and Sri Lanka, with Andrew Balbirnie’s captaincy coming to an end afterwards.

The six white-ball games during the tour are effectively part of Ireland’s official build-up to the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in June 2024 in the Caribbean and USA.

In January this year, Ireland and Zimbabwe drew 1-1 in a three-match T20 International series in Harare, while the hosts won the ODI series 2-1.

Harare Sports Club is the venue for all six matches on the tour, including three T20Is followed by three ODIs.

The opening match of the T20I series today will be an historic occasion for the hosts, when the first day/night match will be held at the venue after floodlighting was recently installed.

Stirling is taking the reins for the first time in the series as Ireland’s permanent white-ball captain after being confirmed in the role last month and the new captain is anticipating another closely contested encounter.

“Yeah, it's always been fairly even. I don't think there's too many series played between the two teams in Zimbabwe where it's not either 2-1 or a 1-1 draw with a bit of rain,” said Stirling.

"I think it's a really important series for us because we want to get back to winning ways. We will hopefully target getting our first series win on these shores to start with, and every game is really important. So yeah, it’s a big series for us.”

Stirling hopes Ireland can show a marked improvement in the series and put the disappointment of their struggles in the World Cup qualifiers behind them.

“It'sbeen quite a long time since we've been in Zimbabwe for the qualifiers and missed out and didn't have our best time,” he said. “I think in both formats it is a bit of a fresh start for our players and sort of a building phase for us.

"We've got a T20 World Cup coming soon in the Caribbean and the USA. So that's the start of our process in the T20, and then again in the one-day stuff.

"I know the actual 50-over World Cup itself is a very long way away, but actually things start now in preparation for that. And that process begins probably in the first ODI here in Zimbabwe.”

Zimbabwe have also struggled for form but Stirling said there is no danger of Ireland taking the challenge lightly.

“I don't think [failing in the recent Qualifier] has changed my opinion on Zimbabwe cricket. The team itself, we know they're a strong team,” he said.

"The fact is that we can't rest on our laurels based on the previous results. We've never won a series in Zimbabwe, so I think there's absolutely no reason to take Zimbabwe

lightly or think that we cannot be anything but our best to win games. We need to be at our very peak. We know Zimbabwe have had a tough time recently, but we know that their players are good players, so we'll be ready for their best to come at us, and we've got to be the same.”