Cricket Ireland has announced the 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 set to be played in India and Sri Lanka. In the lead up to the marquee tournament, Ireland have five match across two series scheduled in the UAE for which they leave Dublin on 15 January.
In the preparatory series ahead of the World Cup, Ireland take on UAE in a two-match series, followed by a three-game duel against Italy, another European team that will be making its maiden appearance in upcoming tournament.
Paul Stirling continues to lead the squad, with Lorcan Tucker as his deputy. Ireland are set to begin their campaign on 8 February.
Ireland will be up against co-hosts Sri Lanka in the first game at Colombo (RPS) and are joined by Australia, Oman, Zimbabwe in Group B. The Irish will play all their league stage games in Sri Lanka.
Notably, the experienced opener Ross Adair returns to the squad after missing out in the T20I series against Bangladesh (27 Nov - 2 Dec 2025) due to knee injury.
Group Stage fixtures
8 February 2026 - Sri Lanka vs Ireland, Colombo (RPS)
11 February 2026 - Australia vs Ireland, Colombo (RPS)
14 February 2026 - Ireland vs Oman, Colombo (SSC)
17 February 2026 - Ireland vs Zimbabwe, Kandy
Andrew White, National Men’s Selector, told Cricket Ireland:
“To say we are very much looking forward to this T20 World Cup is an under-statement. After a memorable 2022 tournament, we probably weren’t at our best in 2024 – and have been waiting to rectify that ever since.
“The last 18 months have been used to test a number of different options in tactics, roles and combinations and we are happy with where the squad is at going into the tournament. That 12 of the 15 players from the 2024 campaign are in this squad also demonstrates that we have a fairly settled squad, however, we have also been able to begin to integrate some exciting new talent – such as Tim Tector, Ben Calitz and Matthew Humphreys – and they add a further dynamic nature to the playing group," he added.
Ireland Squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Paul Stirling (C), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
