Ireland Cricket Board: Heinrich Malan is ‘strongly in favor’ of the two-tier Test Championship

Irish coach Heinrich Malan believes the expanded World Test Championship will enable his team to play red-ball cricket more regularly.

Ireland were granted Test status in 2017 and have since played 10 matches, winning three and losing seven.

The two-Test series in Bangladesh this month will be their first match in this format since their win over Zimbabwe in February.

There have been suggestions that after the current Futures Tours program ends in 2027, Ireland, along with Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, could be included in the World Test Championship for the first time and join Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh in the newly created second tier.

Such a structure, which would involve promotion and relegation between the two divisions, has proven controversial but Malan sees the plans as a potential solution to Ireland’s lack of fixtures.

“I don’t see a lot of problems with it. I just see more cricket,” he said.

“The fact that there is an ups and downs piece will really give it some context and therefore to the benefit of the more cricketing piece and Test cricket in general.”