Ireland: Captain Andrew Balbirnie and Curtis Campher to play in Bangladesh Premier League

Balbirnie will play for the Khulna Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League

Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie and all-rounder Curtis Campher are set to play in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Cricket Ireland have agreed to release the pair after the international side's upcoming six-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare.

All-format captain Balbirnie, 32, has been selected by the Khulna Titans while Campher, 23, will play for the Chattogram Challengers.

Ireland's tour will feature three T20 games and three one-day internationals.

The series will open on 12 January and finish on 23 January, with all games being played at Harare Sports Club.

Speaking previously about Cricket Ireland's policy on franchise cricket, high performance director Richard Holdsworth said the impact of franchise cricket is increasingly "front-of-mind" for the organisation.

"Our policy, in general, is that we maintain strong support of our international and contracted players playing in domestic leagues where this helps their development, provides cricket during gaps in our calendar and provides additional income for the player," he said.

"We release players to play in a high-quality domestic franchise event which the selectors deem beneficial to the player's development, and which do not compromise the national team's performance or development.

"We will generally not release players after a squad selection has been announced. Franchise cricket opportunities have become an increasing feature of modern-day cricket, so we remain somewhat flexible in our response to offers that arise, but in general we will maintain an 'Ireland-first' policy when the potential for conflict arises."