Fixtures: Ireland v Bangladesh ODIs in June

Cricket Ireland has announced that Bangladesh will be playing two ODIs against Ireland at Stormont in June. The matches will take place on Thursday June 15th and Friday June 16th. Bangladesh have also lined up matches against England, Scotland and Netherlands during their European trip.

Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom says that the matches mark the way forward for Ireland: "For the last three years or so, we have targetted matches against the lower-ranked full members as the most important means of measuring our progress and determining our readiness to step up to the elite level. All our players will be aware of the perception that strong results against test-playing countries creates, and will be keen to maximise home advantage to good effect in the year that we are applying to move higher in the international firmament."

Irish coach Phil Simmons added "It’s great that we have a chance to play them on home soil. We lost to them badly in 2008 in Bangladesh but on our home turf I’d be confident of doing well. We have beaten them in both the 2007 World Cup, and in the ICC World Twenty20 last year, so I don’t think there’s much to choose between the two teams. It’s a great opportunity for us to gain valuable ranking points."

U19 Player Ratings v Bangladesh

Ireland sadly lost by 195 runs to Bangladesh in the ICC Under 19 World Cup Plate competition - for the best runners up, and essentially came 10th in the World Cup overall. Not a terrible result for Ireland, but it would have been nice to win the Plate after missing out on the quarter finals. Once again, Ireland's batting was not strong enough, and Bangladesh played an all-round better game of cricket in Napier, New Zealand.

Stuart Thompson
Better at the bat from Thompson, scoring 20 runs from 27 balls. He also took one wicket with the ball, allowing 28 runs in 6 overs. A decent finale from the opener.
Rating: 7

Lee Nelson
A hugely disappointing game from Nelson as he was run out for four, and gave away a massive 57 runs from eight overs. We've seen better from him earlier in the competition, and perhaps the pressure of being moved to opening bat was too much for him.
Rating: 4

Paul Stirling
Lasted only eight balls at bat, but put a fine 11 runs on the scoreboard, when Ireland were chasing. Worked hard, and would have had a real impact if he stayed in longer. His aggression let him down. Bowled six overs, but took no wickets and allowed 32 runs.
Rating: 6

Andrew Balbirnie
A game of two vastly different halves from the Irish under-19 cricket captain. Bowled a masterful 4-59 in ten overs, but did not even score one run at bat. Was lbwed on his first ball, and never got a chance to gain ground on Bangladesh.
Rating: 6

James Shannon
Shannon had another disappointing game, making just two runs in ten balls. He lasted fourteen minutes, but made no significant impact on the game.
Rating: 4

Ben Ackland
Another fine spell at bat from Ackland, but his low run-rate did not help Ireland's cause. He was 34 not out at the game's end, but needed more than just two fours to help reach the target. That said, he was Ireland's highest scorer yesterday, which is to be commended.
Rating: 7

Graham McDonnell
Very aggressive batting from McDonnell, who scored 31 in 42 balls, including 3 fours and a six. His strike-rate of 78.30 was exactly what was needed to help push Ireland towards the required run-rate, but sadly it was not enough.
Rating: 7

Stuart Poynter
Definitely one to forget for Poynter. He did absolutely nothing the entire game, in fact, he didn't even face one ball during his time at bat. Run-out after just four minutes, he'll be no doubt extremely disappointed with his performance here.
Rating: 1

Shane Getkate
The highlight of Getkate's game was his one maiden over, however giving 53 runs up in the other 8 was not his best. Took no wickets, and at bat scored a measly 4 runs from 32 balls.
Rating: 4

Eddie Richardson
Richardson's ODI debut at this level was a decent, but far from brilliant start. Took one wicket in his four overs with the ball, but gave away far too many runs (43). In addition, he scored nothing with the bat, facing only one ball.
Rating: 5

Craig Young
2-33 was a good score for Young, allowing 33 runs in 7 overs. 0 from 1 ball was not, when he was asked to bat at the end of Ireland's innings, and when he was caught behind, Kamrul Islam Rabbi celebrated his hat-trick as Bangladesh won the match in style.
Rating: 6