Irish cricket team in the United Arab Emirates in 2025–26

The Ireland cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates in January 2026 to play Italy and the United Arab Emirates. ^{[1] [2]} The tour consisted of three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches against Italy, followed by two matches against the UAE. ^{[3] [4]} All three teams are using the games as preparation for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup tournament. ^[5] In November 2025, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the fixtures for the tour. ^[6] The Italy series was played at The Sevens Stadium. ^[4] The series against UAE was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. ^[7]

Squads

Ireland [8]	Italy [9]	United Arab Emirates [10]
Paul Stirling (c) Lorcan Tucker (vc, wk) Mark Adair Ross Adair Ben Calitz (wk) Curtis Campher Gareth Delany George Dockrell Matthew Humphreys Josh Little Barry McCarthy Harry Tector Tim Tector Ben White Craig Young	Wayne Madsen (c) Zain Ali Marcus Campopiano Thomas Draca Ali Hasan Crishan Kalugamage Ben Manenti Harry Manenti Gian-Piero Meade (wk) Anthony Mosca Justin Mosca Syed Naqvi Jaspreet Singh JJ Smuts Grant Stewart	Muhammad Waseem (c) Haider Ali Muhammad Arfan Basil Hameed Rahul Chopra (wk) Muhammad Farooq Muhammad Jawadullah Harshit Kaushik Sohaib Khan Muhammad Rohid Alishan Sharafu Aryansh Sharma (wk) Junaid Siddique Simranjeet Singh Muhammad Zohaib

Ireland v Italy T20I series

Irish cricket team against Italy in the UAE in 2025–26
	Ireland	Italy
Dates	23 – 26 January 2026
Captains	Paul Stirling	Wayne Madsen
Twenty20 International series
Results	Ireland won the 3-match series 2–1
Most runs	Harry Tector (150)	Anthony Mosca (115)
Most wickets	Matthew Humphreys (6)	Grant Stewart (6)

1st T20I

23 January 2026 10:00 Scorecard

Italy   118 (18.1 overs)	v	Ireland 119/7 (19.3 overs)
Anthony Mosca 35 (22) Matthew Humphreys 4/12 (4 overs)		Harry Tector 41 (40) Grant Stewart 3/21 (4 overs)

Ireland won by 3 wickets The Sevens Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Akbar Ali (UAE) and Shiju Sam (UAE)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
• JJ Smuts played his first T20I for Italy after having previously played 13 T20Is for South Africa, becoming the 23rd cricketer to represent two international teams in men's T20Is. ^[11]
• This was the first men's T20I to be played at this venue. ^[12]

2nd T20I

25 January 2026 10:00 Scorecard

Ireland   190/5 (20 overs)	v	Italy 166/4 (20 overs)
Harry Tector 96* (56) Crishan Kalugamage 1/27 (3 overs)		Anthony Mosca 69 (48) Barry McCarthy 2/43 (4 overs)

Ireland won by 24 runs The Sevens Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Akbar Ali (UAE) and Aasif Iqbal (UAE)

• Italy won the toss and elected to field.

3rd T20I

26 January 2026 18:00 (N) Scorecard

Ireland   154 (19.4 overs)	v	Italy 157/6 (19.3 overs)
Paul Stirling 45 (38) Crishan Kalugamage 3/28 (4 overs)		Wayne Madsen 39 (30) Mark Adair 2/23 (4 overs) Matthew Humphreys 2/23 (4 overs)

Italy won by 4 wickets The Sevens Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Aasif Iqbal (UAE) and Shiju Sam (UAE)

• Italy won the toss and elected to field.
• This was Italy's first win against a full member side in men's T20I cricket. ^[13]

Ireland v UAE T20I series

Irish cricket team in the UAE in 2025–26
	United Arab Emirates	Ireland
Dates	29 – 31 January 2026
Captains	Muhammad Waseem	Paul Stirling
Twenty20 International series
Results	Ireland won the 2-match series 2–0
Most runs	Aryansh Sharma (77)	Curtis Campher (79)
Most wickets	Haider Ali (4) Junaid Siddique (4)	Gareth Delany (5)

1st T20I

29 January 2026 18:00 (N) Scorecard

Ireland   178/6 (20 overs)	v	United Arab Emirates 121 (19.5 overs)
Ross Adair 39 (29) Haider Ali 2/31 (4 overs)		Muhammad Waseem 40 (37) Gareth Delany 3/26 (4 overs) Matthew Humphreys 3/26 (4 overs)

Ireland won by 57 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Akbar Ali (UAE) and Shiju Sam (UAE) Player of the match: Gareth Delany (Ire)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to bat.
• Paul Stirling (Ire) became most capped player of all time, in T20Is. ^[14]

2nd T20I

31 January 2026 10:00 Scorecard

Ireland   170/7 (20 overs)	v	United Arab Emirates 140/8 (20 overs)
Curtis Campher 54* (41) Muhammad Arfan 2/23 (4 overs)		Aryansh Sharma 54 (40) George Dockrell 2/12 (3 overs)

Ireland won by 30 runs Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Umpires: Akbar Ali (UAE) and Aasif Iqbal (UAE) Player of the match: Curtis Campher (Ire)

• United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to field.

References

1. "UAE to host Ireland ahead of T20 World Cup 2026". International Cricket Council . Retrieved 28 November 2025.
2. "Ireland set to play Italy ahead of T20 World Cup 2026". International Cricket Council . Retrieved 3 December 2025.
3. "Ireland Men will play UAE Men in a two-match series in Dubai". Cricket Ireland . Retrieved 28 November 2025.
4. "Ciao, Italia". Cricket Ireland . Retrieved 3 December 2025.
5. "Ireland set for UAE detour before T20 World Cup". Cricbuzz . Retrieved 28 November 2025.
6. "UAE to host Ireland for two-match T20I series in January 2026". Emirates Cricket Board . Retrieved 28 November 2025.
7. "Dubai to host UAE–Ireland T20I series ahead of men's T20 World Cup". Arab News . Retrieved 28 November 2025.
8. "The World Stage awaits". Cricket Ireland . Retrieved 9 January 2026.
9. "Italy name squad for maiden Men's T20 World Cup campaign". International Cricket Council . Retrieved 17 January 2026.
10. "Muhammad Waseem to lead UAE in two-match T20I series against Ireland". Emirates Cricket Board . Retrieved 28 January 2026.
11. "JJ Smuts included as Italy unveil squad for maiden T20 World Cup". Cricbuzz . Retrieved 19 January 2026.
12. "Italy, Ireland amp up T20 World Cup preparations with 3-match T20I series in Dubai". EuroCric. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
13. "Italy earn landmark win over Ireland in T20 match". BBC Sport . Retrieved 26 January 2026.
14. "Ireland's Stirling breaks Rohit's record to become man with most T20I appearances". India Today . Retrieved 1 February 2026.

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo