Topping called up as Ireland travel for Zimbabwe tour

Morgan Topping has been called into the Ireland squad for their upcoming four-week tour to Zimbabwe.

The Waringstown batter received his first call up, having missed out on a previous opportunity through injury and will travel with the squad for the seven-match tour, which includes all three formats of the game.

Topper, a right-handed top-order batter, has proved a prolific run-scorer at club level, and has established himself in the top order of the Northern Knights side in recent seasons.

Ireland will start with a Test match against the host nation in Bulawayo on 6 February before travelling to Harare for a three-game One Day International (ODI) series, followed by a similar length T20 series to complete their schedule.

After making his international debut in October, Pembroke’s Gavin Hoey retains his place in the ODI squad and is in line for a Test debut – Topping and Hoey the only non-capped players in the Test squad.

Andrew Balbirnie will lead the 14-man Test squad, while Paul Stirling will captain the team for the ODI and T20 internationals.

"Unfortunately, we're kind of used to that at this stage that games are just going to be cut for whatever reason, reasons outside of our control," said Balbirnie, speaking to RTE Sport about his disappointment of the lack of a second Test match.

"I think it would have been great to play two, but that's not the case and we've got one Test match to look forward to but we just got to play with what we've got and hopefully produce some good results to start the year off.

"I won't hang around. I'll leave them to it," he added, in relation to the fact that he is not part of the T20 squad. "I think there's potentially two or three of us that will come home straight after the one day games, which, you know, it's fine.

"I want to be part of all the games, but you have to understand that that's not the way they want to go at the moment. And I've got two formats that I still feel like I've got a lot to give.

"It's a place we know very well. We've had success there. We've had failures there. A couple of qualifying tournaments that didn't go our way but it's a really lovely place to play. The people are really welcoming, and the atmosphere at the grounds is really special"

There is also the real possibility of a tour to Pakistan in September which excites Balbirnie

"I've been quite vocal over the years about how I'd love to tour there. It's one of the of countries that haven't been to and I've only heard good things.

"Paul Stirling played in the Pakistan Super League a few years ago and said it's one of the nicest place to play as a batter. They're obviously one of the top teams in the world when it comes to cricket."

"I think I've always set my sights on the 50-over (ODI) World Cup in South Africa in 2027," he added. "As long as my game is still contributing and I feel like I'm good enough to do it, that's where I want to kind of go to.

"I'm still playing well, I'm still enjoying it and I'm still of enjoying the day-to-day stuff, trekking out to Abbottstown every morning and I'm working in the gym and going to North County."

"I still have that hunger and I still feel like I can produce winning moments for Ireland."

Looking ahead to the Zimbabwe tour, selector Andrew White said: "Since [the Cricket World Cup in] 2007, there has been some wonderful contests against Zimbabwe and this should be no different, and it’s exciting to have all three formats on this tour.

"Morgan Topping has demonstrated key attributes needed to perform at international level over recent Wolves and Academy fixtures and we wish him well.

"It’s going to be exciting to see our two young spinners and the likes of Ross Adair again in action alongside the experienced players and we do, of course, have the return of Josh Little who had a big impact the last time we were in Zimbabwe.

"We also have Gareth Delany and Barry McCarthy returning from injury, while Craig Young misses out in the T20 format on this occasion.

"It promises to be a very busy cycle ahead – from 2026 to 2028 we will see three white-ball World Cups, however, we have 2025 free from ICC events to build towards this key period."

Ireland squad (for all three formats unless noted): Andrew Balbirnie (capt, Test, ODI), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling (capt, ODI, T20), Harry Tector, Morgan Topping, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young, George Dockrell (ODI, T20), Josh Little (ODI, T20), Ross Adair (T20), Gareth Delany (T20), Neil Rock (T20), Ben White (T20)

Additional reporting: John Kenny

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