The Irish men's Test squad to face New Zealand at Stormont in Belfast on Wednesday is missing the experienced Paul Stirling and Barry McCarthy
Both Stirling and McCarthy are long-term injury concerns while all-rounder Curtis Campher will not bowl in the match if selected, also due to injury.
Stirling, who was injured in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, has sustained a serious calf injury which requires rest and recuperation while fast bowler McCarthy is out for the season with an ACL injury sustained playing for his club Pembroke in the Irish Senior Cup.
The 14-man squad includes potential debutants in Reuben Wilson and Jake Egan who impressed in this week's inter-squad Emerald Challenge in Malahide as Heinrich Milan’s squad face the team ranked number two in the world in the current test rankings.
Wilson, a bowler, has played at three World Cups for the Ireland Under-19’s while Egan scored 120 runs in the Strikers first innings in Malahide.
Ireland cricket team prepare for their summer campaign, starting with a Test against New Zealand, reports John Kenny #RTESport pic.twitter.com/WQmJKEjdP1
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 25, 2026
They are two of four players in the squad who are in line to make their test debuts, if selected along with Tom Mayes and Liam McCarthy.
New Zealand are gearing up to play England after the one-off Test against Ireland and the four-day fixture at Stormont will be Ireland’s 13th test match since their inaugural one against Pakistan in 2018 at Malahide
The side will be captained by Andy Balbirnie who has played in all of Ireland's 12 Test matches to date and it’s the start of the summer for the side that includes games against India and Afghanistan with all the games being played in Northern Ireland.
"They've got world class players, legends of the game" said Balbirnie
"I think we just want them to go out and enjoy the occasion and express themselves and adapt as quickly as they come and they get into the situation because we will be under pressure throughout the game
"We are hoping that the guys come out with a, with a positive attitude towards that pressure.
"It's not every day you get to play New Zealand and hopefully going forward, we do again but it’s exciting to see how a couple of the new guys coming into the squad embrace the challenge be ahead of us next week".
Play between Ireland and New Zealand begins on Wednesday at Stormont at 11am and is due to run until Saturday with the capacity at Stormont set at 1,500 spectators per day.
Ireland squad: Andrew Balbirnie (capt), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Cade Carmichael, Stephen Doheny, Jake Egan, Matthew Humphreys, Tom Mayes, Andrew McBrine, Liam McCarthy, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Reuben Wilson, Craig Young.
