Ireland Women will tour the Caribbean for three ODIs and as many T20Is in June-July and then host world champions Australia for three ODIs in July. Ireland were originally scheduled to play five T20Is in the West Indies but those have been cut down to three and their board chief executive also said a planned multi-format series against Thailand had to be called off as well because of a schedule clash.
Ireland will then head to the Netherlands for three more T20Is in August.
Australia will be touring Ireland for the second year in a row, having played a tri-series against the hosts and Pakistan last July. The three ODIs this time will be part of the ICC Women's Championship and will be played in Clontarf on July 23, 25 and 28. Even though it was in the warm-ups, Ireland had recently stunned Australia with a three-wicket win before the T20 World Cup in February when they had chased down 169.
To start their summer, Ireland will leave for the Caribbean in late June for the ODIs - also part of the Women's Championship - on June 26, 29 and July 2 followed by the T20Is on July 5, 7 and 9. Cricket West Indies (CWI) is yet to announce the venues for these games.
It's the first time Ireland are part of the Women's Championship cycle, which is now a ten-team tournament with Bangladesh also included.
"It can't be under-estimated how important participation in the ICC Women's Championship has been for Ireland - both in attracting top sides to Ireland and playing away in some great, but challenging venues," Warren Deutrom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland, said was quoted as saying in a release. "The experience that our Ireland Women's squad is gaining is invaluable to their development. Combined with their participation in the recently completed T20 World Cup, 2023 is a big year for the squad and they have already demonstrated their potential over the last six months or more.
"We recently showed in the warm-up win over Australia at the past T20 World Cup, and the nail-biting Group Stage match against the West Indies, that we can compete with the best - the two upcoming series' will obviously be a different challenge, but the squad will be well prepared by [head coach] Ed Joyce."
The three T20Is in Netherlands will be played on August 14, 16 and 17 in Amstelveen.
"We are aware, however, that the players will better develop by playing more fixtures - and to this end, it was unfortunate that a planned multi-format series against Thailand scheduled for June have fallen through as a result of a clash with the Asia Cup," Deutrom further said.