World Cup Qualifier: Ireland skipper Balbirnie ready for 'brutal' Zimbabwe tournament
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Andy McBrine will move up to open for Ireland in Zimbabwe after hitting an unbeaten 86 against England
Irish captain Andrew Balbirnie is targeting a place at the 2023 World Cup in the qualifying tournament starting next week in Zimbabwe.
The top two from the 10-team tournament qualify for India with Ireland seeking to make a first appearance since 2015.
"These competitions are pretty brutal and tough," said Balbirnie.
"We haven't been to a World Cup since 2015 - that's a long time and with it being in India it makes it an even bigger occasion to try to be part of."
He added: "The World Cup is a very difficult competition to get into with it being only 10 teams so I think if we were to get in we would fully deserve it.
"It's important for us to do our absolute best and have no regrets when we go home, whether we qualify or don't qualify."
Josh Little will spearhead the Irish attack in the Zimbabwe tournament
Ireland start their bid next Monday against Oman in Bulawayo and face Scotland two days later.
Sri Lanka are next up on 21 June before another two-day gap to their final Group B match against United Arab Emirates.
The top three from both groups go through to the Super Six stage - all points won in the group phase will be carried over apart from those gained against the teams that failed to progress.
The final will be contested by the top two sides, with both qualifying for the World Cup later this year.
Batting switch
Balbirnie revealed that spinner Andy McBrine, who made an impressive unbeaten 86 against England in the Test defeat earlier this month, will move from his usual number eight spot to open the batting in Zimbabwe.
Key paceman Josh Little was rested for the Test at Lord's after his successful IPL stint and the Dubliner will be back in action for the Irish.
Ireland are the second highest ranked team in their group behind Sri Lanka but Balbirnie knows finishing in the top three will be no formality.
"The fixtures come thick and fast and you have to hit the ground running pretty quickly," he said.
"I don't think anyone in this competition will take any team lightly - we would be pretty silly to do that because anyone could beat anyone on their day.
"We saw last time round in the 2018 qualifying tournament that there were quite a few early upsets so we know we have to start the competition pretty well and get the ball rolling, get some momentum.
"We're here to win games and there will be times when we have to win pretty ugly and just get over the line. Hopefully we'll get into the Super Six stage and take some points through with it.
"But we don't want to look too far forward - our first game is on Monday and we have to make sure everything we do in the next few days is geared towards putting in a good performance against Oman."