Ireland to face Netherlands in T20 series as Euro T20 Slam postponed

Ireland beat Scotland 3-1 in May's T20 series at Stormont

Ireland will play a four-match Twenty series against the Netherlands in Dublin ahead of August's Women's T20 World Cup qualifiers.

The matches will take place from 26-30 July at Malahide.

The team will face Lancashire Women in a one-off encounter next week at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Cricket Ireland also announced that the inaugural Euro T20 Slam, for Irish, Scottish and Dutch domestic teams, has been postponed until 2022.

• Ireland beat Scotland 3-1 in T20 series

• Scottish, Irish & Dutch teams feature in new Euro T20 league

The competition was set to launch in 2019 and each country was to provide two teams for a group stage followed by semi-finals and a final.

Each squad would have a minimum of nine domestic players and a maximum of seven overseas players.

Cricket Ireland says there were concerns posed by recent variants of the coronavirus creating a great deal of uncertainty on international travel, quarantining restrictions being tightened, pressure on available hotel accommodation during late summer and early autumn in Ireland, plus rescheduled leagues now impinging on the window.

Competitive Dutch T20 series a benefit

Ed Joyce, head coach of Ireland's women, believes that the T20 series with the Netherlands will help preparations ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

Scotland, Netherlands, France, Germany, Turkey and Ireland will battle it out for one spot in the T20 World Cup global qualifying tournament in August.

Ireland beat Scotland 3-1 at Stormont in a four-match series in May to begin their preparations for the qualification tournament.

"It was great to see the character and determination emerge from this young squad after we went 1-0 down in the Scotland series last month," said Joyce.

"To turn it around and dominate the following three matches told me a lot about the focus and competitive edge that this squad possesses. Indeed, that last squad was missing some of our key players, so to see a number of our emerging talent step up and shoulder responsibility was very encouraging."

"As always, the more competitive cricket we can get for the squad, the better - and we appreciate the Dutch side travelling over during what are still challenging times.

"We look forward to another competitive series, and - with the Lancashire Women match next week - this will be an important month for our preparations ahead of out T20 World Cup Qualifier in August."