Ireland vs New Zealand: Can the hosts claim a Test scalp against New Zealand in Belfast?

A major disadvantage for Ireland is that, as mentioned above, they rarely play in this format.

Henrich Malan’s side played three Tests in 2025, beating Zimbabwe in February before two defeats against Bangladesh in November.

Their preparations, which Test captain Balbirnie admitted had only played one warm-up match “compared to other Test nations”, were also hampered by injuries.

Paul Stirling, who has played in 10 of Ireland’s 12 Test matches and is one of their most experienced batsmen, is ruled out with a calf injury while Gavin Hoey, Barry McCarthy, Jordan Nail and Josh Little are also unavailable.

That opens the door for others in the 14-man squad to play against the Kiwis, including four potential Test debuts in all-rounders Jake Egan, Tom Mayes and Liam McCarthy plus seamer Reuben Wilson.

While the Belfast crowd will be excited to see the next generation, a depleted Ireland will miss some of their experienced operators in a format where they really lack skill.

Balbirnie, who has played 12 Test matches for Ireland, said his side were “not under pressure” to get a result and would aim to make the Test as close to the full four days as possible.

It’s a big occasion, with around 75% of tickets sold for each of the first two days of matches at Stormont, but just the start of a busy summer.

Ireland arguably have more important games they will be aiming to win in a more familiar format, the T20I series against India in June and the ODI series against Afghanistan in August.

As with talks of a changed World Test Championship, there will be time to look ahead to those games later, with all attention now on preparing for the tough task ahead against New Zealand.

“I don’t want us to get away with anything. They will naturally be more skilled than us but we have lads who are passionate about playing for Ireland and have their own skills and we need to showcase that as much as we can over the four days,” explained the Ireland captain.

“When we have those hours or two that we win we have to win those hours well and pick up the pace whenever we can.”