Ireland will be without Paul Stirling and Josh Little for January’s Twenty20 series in Zimbabwe after the pair opted to play in franchise leagues.
Stirling, Ireland’s top scorer in one-day and T20 internationals, will compete in the T20 International League for Abu Dhabi Knight Raiders.
Little will play in SA20 South Africa for the Pretoria Capitals.
Stirling and Little will return for the three one-day Irish internationals, which follow the T20 series.
Ireland will play three T20 matches from January 12-15 against Zimbabwe before three ODIs between the sides from January 18-23.
Stirling and in-form Little will miss a handful of games for their franchises when competing in the ODIs for Ireland, but will return to Abu Dhabi and South Africa respectively after the series concludes.
Curtis Campher is included in both squads despite a contract with Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League which, like the ILT20 and SA20, clashes directly with the tour.
Out-of-rotation all-rounder Simi Singh has been ruled out of both squads, while Craig Young is sidelined with an injury sustained at the T20 World Cup and Conor Olphert is also out through injury.
“This flexibility in selection will allow us to give a number of fringe players a chance,” said Andrew White, Ireland’s national coach.
“2023 will be the year we return to all three formats. However, with qualification for the T20 World Cup in July and a possible Cricket World Cup at 50 in October – if we can qualify – the importance of this series of white balloons is obvious.
“The volume of cricket next year demands that we need more ‘internationally ready’ players to meet the challenges ahead, and the Zimbabwe tour will be the start of that process.”
T20I Squad: Andy Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Tyrone Kane, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White
The ODI team: Andy Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Graham Hume, Tyrone Kane, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker
