NZ focusing solely on Ireland before England Tests

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• Published1 hour ago

New Zealand captain Tom Latham says his side are "solely focused on this match" as they warm up for their forthcoming three-Test series against England by facing Ireland in a solitary Test at Stormont this week.

The tourists go into the encounter in Belfast as heavy favourites in light of their position as the fifth-ranked team in the ICC rankings, against an Irish team which will be competing in the red-ball format of the game for just the 13th time and the first time against this opposition.

The four-day Test commences on Wednesday and will be Ireland's first on home soil since they defeated Zimbabwe at the same venue in July 2024.

New Zealand picked up victories against the West Indies and Zimbabwe in their most recent Tests in 2025.

"We're certainly not taking it lightly. We come here with a slightly different squad, some guys not being here through other commitments with franchise stuff," Latham told BBC Sport NI.

"But most of the guys in this group have played Test cricket and it's important to learn from those experiences.

"We are solely focused on this match and we're looking forward to what the next four days presents.

"We want to come here and display our skills as best we can and play our brand of cricket as best we can."

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'Adapting to the conditions quickly'

The New Zealand skipper added that his side did not have much to work off in terms of seeing their opponents in action in the Test format.

"From an Ireland point of view there's not a huge amount of footage of Test matches so for us it's really important for us to adapt on the go and adapt to conditions as quickly as we can.

"We've been here playing ODIs and T20 cricket so we have experienced this part of the world, and these conditions, before.

"Fingers crossed, the weather remains sunny like this and we can get a full game in."

New Zealand will face England at Lord's, the Oval and Trent Bridge in June.

"We know what we've got coming up in a few weeks but our focus is solely on this Test match," emphasised the NZ captain.

Ireland's participation in Test cricket has been sporadic at best and Latham believes they would benefit from greater exposure to that form of the sport.

"I think from a Test match point of view I guess the experience of playing more and more, you can only gain positive experiences from being in those situations.

"I think as cricketers the more first-class cricket you can play, it's where you hone your skills.

"We play eight first-class games a year back home, which isn't a huge amount, but it's obviously a little more than Ireland play."

Related topics

• Cricket
• New Zealand
• Ireland
• Northern Ireland Sport

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  • Published16 August 2025