Wesley Barresi, a staple of the Netherlands batting order throughout the 2010s, has retired from all forms of cricket at the age of 36. Barresi was one of the national team's most unsung heroes for his role in numerous memorable wins over Test nations, and took to social media to formally end his career.

"I've been incredibly privileged to not only participate in three cricket world cups, represent a country and achieve some memorable feats but more importantly I've had the pleasure of doing this for 18 years!" Barresi posted over Twitter on Monday. "The world of cricket doesn't quite understand the sacrifice, dedication and self motivation that goes into being an 'associate cricketer'. I look back at some of those glorious memories and know we did it all on our own."

Born in Johannesburg, Barresi made four first-class appearances for the Easterns in 2004 and 2005 before making his national team debut for Netherlands against Canada in Rotterdam in July 2009. He wound up making 18 first-class appearances in the ICC Intercontinental Cup for them, scoring 608 runs.

Barresi had a much better output in limited-overs cricket. He ended his career as the all-time leading scorer for Netherlands in List A cricket with 2871 runs in 109 matches with two centuries and 19 half-centuries. He made his ODI debut in July 2010 against Scotland at World Cricket League Division One on home soil.

A few weeks later, Barresi played arguably his most significant ODI innings, scoring an unbeaten 64 of 43 balls to clinch Netherlands' first ODI win over a Full Member when they chased down a target of 200 with seven balls to spare to defeat Bangladesh in Glasgow. His lone ODI century came in January 2014, a match more infamous in Dutch circles for the stunning chase completed by Kenya that kept Netherlands out of the knockout stage of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier and ended their ODI status for the next four years.

Ironically, Barresi's only other List A century came in the match that won ODI status back for Netherlands, an eight-wicket win over Namibia in the final round of the 2017 WCL Championship in Dubai.

However, the wicketkeeper-batsman may be best remembered for his pivotal role in a pair of triumphs at the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. In an epic win over Ireland that secured a place for Netherlands in the main draw, Barresi scored 40 not out off 22 balls to chase down 190 in just 14 overs with six wickets in hand. Ten days later, he top-scored with 48 off 45 balls as Netherlands completed an emphatic 45-run win over England, sending a message that their win over the same opponents at Lord's to open the 2009 tournament was no fluke.

Barresi is one of only three Netherlands players - along with Ben Cooper and Stephan Myburgh - to score more than 1000 runs in T20 cricket, racking up 1165 runs in 65 matches. He took a particular liking to British and Irish competition. Aside from his knocks to help defeat England and Ireland in 2014, his four highest scores in T20Is all came against Scotland. That included a career-best 75 not out in November 2013 in Abu Dhabi during an eight-wicket win in the knockout phase of the T20 World Cup Qualifier, a result that kept Netherlands alive before a win over Papua New Guinea secured their place in Bangladesh for a historic run a few months later.

His final appearances for Netherlands came in the summer of 2019 against Zimbabwe. He scored 39 not out to see his team over the line by seven wickets for their first ODI win against Zimbabwe and scored 22 two days later in his final ODI innings in another win over Zimbabwe. He then scored 8 and 4 in the two T20Is that followed, another Netherlands win before a tied match was claimed by Zimbabwe in a Super Over.

Having given up the wicketkeeping role to Scott Edwards a year earlier to play as a specialist batsman, Barresi lost his place in the Netherlands squad altogether following his lean form in the Zimbabwe T20Is. He was dropped for the four-match T20I series against UAE later in the summer of 2019 and was unable to secure a recall into the squad for the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE, where they defeated PNG in the final.

"It's been a tough decision to make and a sad one to accept but I find myself at peace with my decision now," Barresi wrote in his retirement post.

Quinton de Kock will sit out of South Africa's domestic T20 competition, which starts on Friday, on medical advice. De Kock has been given a mental health break and will aim to be ready for the Pakistan white-ball series at home in April.

"On medical advice, Quinton will be on a break for a few weeks. The South African Cricketers Association and Cricket South Africa (CSA) will continue to support him through this process," Andrew Breetzke, SACA CEO told ESPNcricinfo.

This season has been particularly taxing on de Kock, who took on the responsibility of captaining the Test team in a temporary capacity, along with leading the white-ball sides, being the first-choice wicketkeeper in all formats and among the senior-most batsmen. His form took a significant dip and he only scored 74 runs in six innings as captain, after being moved to the No.5 position in the Test line-up, further adding to his burden.

The effects of living in biosecure bubbles also appear to have taken their toll on de Kock. In January, he described the environment as "unsettling," and spoke about the scarcity of time at home over the summer.

Since September last year, de Kock has been involved in several bubbles, from the IPL to South Africa's white-ball series against England (which was interrupted by Covid-19 concerns and ended early) to the festive-season Tests against Sri Lanka and the recently completed trip to Pakistan. South Africa were due to go directly from the bubble in Pakistan to a home series against Australia, but the indefinite postponement of that three-Test series means that de Kock will have some time off.

On Monday, CSA's director of cricket Graeme Smith confirmed that all nationally contracted players will be obliged to play in the domestic T20 competition and the four-day matches which will follow in March. De Kock and Faf du Plessis are the only exceptions. CSA have yet to make a decision about whether the contracted players have to remain at home for the Pakistan series, or will travel to the IPL for the start of the tournament, expected to be in mid-April. The Pakistan series runs from April 2 to 16.

The voters in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll are lined up with the committee that will select the NCAA Tournament field when it comes to which five teams are the nation's best.

Agreeing on the order beyond that isn't as simple.

Top-ranked Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor remained atop Monday's latest AP Top 25, where they have been for all 13 polls this season. And after Illinois rose one spot to No. 5, that put the top of the AP poll in sync with the initial rankings of the top 16 seeds released Saturday by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee.

Among teams that didn't lose last week, AP voters were a bit higher on No. 7 Virginia (seeded ninth), No. 9 Oklahoma (12th), No. 11 Iowa (13th) and No. 12 Texas (15th) following wins that came later Saturday. In addition, Alabama rose three spots to No. 8 in the AP poll to pull closer to the committee's seeding of seventh overall shortly before the Crimson Tide scored 115 points in a win over against Georgia.

Sixth-ranked Houston (seeded eighth) didn't play after the committee released its rankings.

THE TOP TIER

Coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs received 59 of 64 first-place votes in the new AP Top 25, while Scott Drew’s Bears claimed the other five. Next came three straight Big Ten teams, starting with No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State as the other No. 1 seeds in the selection committee's rankings.

Illinois climbed to the top 5 for the second time this season, the other coming in late November, for the program's highest ranking since reaching No. 1 during the 2004-05 season. The Illini dipped to No. 22 by January but have won five straight, including against Iowa and No. 21 Wisconsin.

RISING

No. 14 Creighton had the week’s biggest climb, jumping five spots after a weekend win over Villanova. The Bluejays have won six of seven since a Jan. 20 loss to Providence.

No. 11 Iowa climbed four spots after a pair of Big Ten wins, first against a ranked Rutgers team at home. Then came Saturday's 30-point win at Michigan State, the worst home loss in coach Tom Izzo's tenure with the Spartans.

In all, 11 teams climbed from last week’s poll.

SLIDING

No. 20 Missouri took the biggest tumble, falling 10 spots after losses at Mississippi and at home to Arkansas in Southeastern Conference play last week. The Tigers had cracked the top 10 last week for the first time since December 2012.

No. 15 Texas Tech fell eight spots after losing at home to No. 13 West Virginia, while No. 10 Villanova fell five spots after its loss to Creighton.

STATUS QUO

Beyond the top four, No. 18 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 Loyola Chicago also remained in their positions from last week.

WELCOME

Kansas' streak-breaking absence from the AP Top 25 was a short one.

The Jayhawks fell out of last week’s poll for the first time in 12 years. But they immediately beat a ranked Oklahoma State team to start the week, then added two wins over Iowa State to jump back in at No. 23.

Kansas was one of three new additions to this week’s poll, joined by No. 24 Arkansas and No. 25 San Diego State. It marked the Razorbacks’ first appearance since January 2018, while the Aztecs spent two weeks in the poll in December.

FAREWELL (FOR NOW)

Oklahoma State (No. 23), Purdue (No. 24) and Rutgers (No. 25) fell out of the poll.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Big 12 led the way with six ranked teams after having a national-best five teams in the NCAA selection committee’s rankings. The Big Ten was next with five ranked teams, while the SEC had four and the Atlantic Coast Conference had three.

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Former Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn has been named as the new head coach at UCF, the school announced Monday.

Malzahn, 55, was fired on Dec. 13 after eight seasons at Auburn. He was 68-35 overall and 39-27 in SEC play. Malzahn took the Tigers to the national championship game in his first season in 2013. They won 10 games and made an SEC championship game appearance in 2017, but went just 14-12 against SEC opponents over the next three seasons.

Malzahn, who emerged Sunday as UCF's leading candidate, replaces Josh Heupel at UCF. Heupel left last month for the Tennessee head-coaching job.

"I'm thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I'm truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation," Malzahn said in a statement released by the school. "It's exciting to be head of a program where the future is extremely bright. I will be hitting the ground running in terms of getting to know our team and everyone else connected with UCF. Our goal is to be ready to win championships."

Malzahn signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with Auburn following the 2017 season and was owed a $21.7 million buyout when he was fired by the school in December. Per the terms of his contract, he received half of that money within 30 days of his termination on Dec. 13 and will receive the rest in equal annual installments over the next four years, regardless of his contract with UCF, terms of which were not immediately released by the school Monday.

Malzahn was just 8-17 against SEC rivals Alabama, Georgia and LSU, but he was also one of the few coaches in college football to have any success against Nick Saban at Alabama. Since the start of the 2013 season, Saban is 65-6 against SEC opponents, and three of those losses were to Malzahn.

New UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir's and Malzahn's paths crossed briefly at Arkansas State. Three months after being named the Arkansas State athletic director in 2012, Mohajir had to find a replacement for Malzahn when he left for Auburn.

"When I started the search process, it became very evident very quickly that, based on the conversations I had with the players last week and what they told me were looking for, Gus Malzahn was the guy for the job," said Mohajir in the school's statement. "He has won at every level, and he has coached a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL draft picks. There has never been a better time for Coach Malzahn to lead this program than right now."

Kent State coach Sean Lewis also was among those considered for the UCF job, according to sources.

ESPN's Chris Low and Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report

The Cleveland Cavaliers are no longer planning to play Andre Drummond as they work to trade the two-time All-Star center before the NBA's March 25 deadline, sources told ESPN.

The Cavaliers are moving to make Jarrett Allen the franchise's long-term starting center and believe it's unfair to Drummond to limit his minutes as the organization transitions to Allen, sources said.

Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman discussed the move with Drummond and his agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, and decided together that Drummond would remain with the team but would no longer be active for games, sources said.

Cleveland is starting to gauge the trade market, but there are no serious ongoing discussions with any team, sources told ESPN.

Drummond didn't dress for the Cavaliers' loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday night, and that'll continue Monday against the Golden State Warriors and into the future. The Cavs said Drummond missed Sunday's game for rest, and he came to the game wearing a sweatshirt with the word "farewell" on the front.

When reached on Monday morning, Schwartz wouldn't confirm or deny the decision, but told ESPN: "Whichever direction this goes, Andre is 27, in his prime, and I believe strongly that he has a great deal to add to a team building toward a postseason run."

Drummond is playing on a $28.7 million expiring contract, which does make matching up salaries in a trade something of a formidable challenge. He has averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds this season in 25 starts. A number of teams are interested in the 7-footer, sources said.

The Cavaliers would need to take back $23 million in contracts to make a Drummond trade work.

There has been no discussion on a contract buyout that could allow Drummond to become a free agent, sources said.

Drummond's future with the Cavs dimmed last month when Cleveland traded for the 22-year-old Allen, who became the franchise's center of the future. Drummond will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, and Allen will be a restricted free agent.

Allen has played well in 15 games with the Cavs, averaging 13.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff recently moved Allen into the starting lineup.

A multigame experiment playing Drummond and Allen together was unsuccessful, as the Cavs nosedived into a slump that includes their current seven-game losing streak. Kevin Love, who has been out since December with a calf injury, is expected to return this week and further tighten the Cavs' frontcourt minutes.

ESPN's Bobby Marks contributed to this report.

The Colorado Rockies signed first baseman C.J. Cron to a minor league contract Monday. Cron also received an invitation to major league spring training.

The Rockies' addition of the right-handed-hitting Cron follows the team's signing of first baseman Greg Bird, who bats left-handed, last week. Bird also signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Josh Fuentes and Ryan McMahon also could be options at first or at third after the blockbuster trade that sent Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this offseason.

The 31-year-old Cron had season-ending surgery after suffering ligament damage in his left knee after he was hit by a line drive on Aug. 10. Signed to a one-year deal by the Detroit Tigers last offseason, Cron hit four home runs in 13 games but struggled with a .190 batting average.

Cron was a key part of a powerful lineup for the 2019 Minnesota Twins, which set MLB's single-season home run record. He contributed a .253 average with 25 homers, a career-high 78 RBIs and a .311 on-base percentage while scoring 51 runs in 125 games.

Despite his power, Cron doesn't walk much -- evidenced by his 148 career walks vs. 582 strikeouts -- and is regarded as a mediocre defender at first base.

Cron played his first four major league seasons for the Los Angeles Angels, who selected him with the 17th overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft, and one season for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has 118 career home runs and 373 RBIs while hitting .257.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The calendar may say 2021, but it appears the racing season is going to look a lot like 2020.

Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

The last time the NASCAR Cup Series competed in front of a sellout crowd was last February’s Daytona 500. At that time, most Americans weren’t paying attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, figuring it wouldn’t impact them.

One month later, things in the United States, including sports, ground to a halt as the pandemic took hold.

Instead of 104,000 fans at this year’s Daytona 500, a limited crowd of 30,000 fans will be allowed to attend The Great American Race.

NASCAR believes it has a good handle on its schedule, but remains prepared to make changes as necessary.

By the first week of January, IndyCar had already made two major revisions to its schedule.

The start of the NTT IndyCar Series season will be delayed by an additional month with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg moving from March 5-7 to April 25. As a result, the season is now scheduled to open April 18 at Alabama’s Barber Motorsports Park. St. Petersburg will now be the second race of the season.

It is the second major revision to the NTT IndyCar Series schedule after the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which was slated for mid-April, was moved to the final race of the season on Sept. 26.

Because positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, local government officials are unlikely to lift crowd restrictions to start the season on time. Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race promoters Kevin Savoree and Barry Green were able to host 20,000 fans at least year’s rescheduled race on Oct. 25. Savoree said it was essential to be back to 100 percent capacity in 2021 in order to make up for the financial losses incurred a year ago.

Currently, two COVID-19 vaccines have been approved, while a third has been rolled out for emergency use in the United Kingdom and is awaiting approval in the United States.

The United States is in the very early stages of vaccinations. It has been reported that between 70-90 percent of the population will have to be vaccinated in order to create herd immunity, so restrictions are likely to remain in place until at least mid-summer.

By moving the start of the season back, it gives IndyCar and its teams, promoters and fans extra time to help deal with the very slow process of battling the pandemic.

“It’s not surprising that an event of this magnitude (the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg), scheduled for the first week of March, is still subject to the implications of the pandemic,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “We’re delighted we were able to work with Mayor Rick Kriseman’s administration and Green Savoree Racing Promotions to find a more suitable date, which helps consolidate the beginning of our schedule and allows us to stay on NBC network television.”

Because of the move, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park will raise the curtain on the season.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will mark the 18th NTT IndyCar Series event in the Sunshine City. The traditional season opener since 2011 and a fan favorite on the IndyCar schedule, the St. Pete race received a three-year title sponsorship extension from Bridgestone Americas last October.

“We appreciate the officials at IndyCar for their support in setting a new date for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and also to Mayor Kriseman and his team at the City of St. Petersburg for identifying a time when it will be conducive for more fans to attend,” said Kim Green, co-owner, chairman and CEO of GSSP, the race organizer. “We are grateful to keep the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the springtime window and also maintain the live national broadcast coverage of the race on NBC.”

Because of COVID-19, all schedules are subject to change and that’s something we just need to deal with.

Even with vaccines already developed, getting back to any degree of normalcy depends on how many citizens get vaccinated.

That may ultimately be as difficult as getting people to wear masks.

Borussia Monchengladbach manager Marco Rose will become the new Borussia Dortmund coach next season, both clubs confirmed on Monday.

Dortmund sacked Lucien Favre as manager in December and have since been coached by Edin Terzic on an interim basis.

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"Over the past few weeks, we held several talks on Marco's future," Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl said in a statement. "Sadly, he has now decided to trigger a clause in his contract valid until June 2022.

"He wants to make the move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer."

Sources told ESPN that Rose informed his squad of his decision on Sunday after their 0-0 draw at Wolfsburg.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed to German wire SID that Rose will take over in the summer but refused to make any more comments.

"We are delighted," he said. "But there is not more to say at the moment. We will do that when he takes over in the summer. Also out of respect for all involved."

Both clubs are competing for a Champions League place in the Bundesliga and will meet in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals on March 2.

Gladbach are seventh in the Bundesliga standings -- only one place behind Dortmund, who are sixth courtesy of their superior goal difference. Both sides are six points behind fourth-place Wolfsburg in the final Champions League qualification spot.

"Until [the end of the season], we will work with Marco, mobilise all our forces to achieve our goals in Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League," Eberl said.

It has been a difficult season for Dortmund who were tipped as title contenders at the beginning of the campaign but now face a battle to finish in the top four. Terzic has so far picked up 14 points from his first 10 Bundesliga games in charge.

Rose joined Gladbach from FC Salzburg in 2019 and in his first season at the Borussia Park finished fourth, taking the final Champions League place from Bayer Leverkusen.

Gladbach face Premier League leaders Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16, while Dortmund go up against Sevilla.

Is football a better or worse spectacle since the introduction of VAR? Is it delivering justice or turning off the fans? Those are key questions for FIFA to consider.

What would be the result of a poll among professional players and managers if they given the chance to scrap the whole idea? I think I know. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has already said he is "not a fan," while Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne declared himself unsure of what the laws of the game are anymore after so many tweaks. That is worrying.

The feeling grows among many ex-pros and pundits I talk to that football was better as it was, complete with the mistakes and controversies that make the sporting world go round. A perception has grown that the new technology is a killjoy, combing the action like a pedant and looking for reasons to rule out goals.

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As a TV commentator, I started as a big supporter of VAR. I thought it would right a few blatant wrongs and generally make the referees' job significantly easier. But it hasn't. I was wrong. So let us go back to the beginning here.

VAR was introduced to stop serious errors, like Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal for Argentina against England at the 1986 World Cup, or the unspotted Thierry Henry handball in extra-time that helped France end the Republic of Ireland's hopes of reaching the 2010 tournament. These and a few other incidents -- like the red card West Germany's goalkeeper Toni Schumacher escaped for wiping out and seriously injuring Patrick Battiston of France in an epic 1982 World Cup clash -- were major howlers that video technology would have helped to correct.

The original idea of VAR was a good one: to prevent serious miscarriages of justice, help under-pressure referees and produce a better game. But that laudable aim has been lost. It has become way too intrusive, which is why there needs to be a major rethink by FIFA about the way forward.

Realistically, VAR is not going to be scrapped. So how do we make it better?

Is there really a need for every goal to be scrutinised microscopically to see if there might have been an infringement at some point in the build-up, like the disallowed Liverpool goal at Spurs for handball on the halfway line a good 10 seconds before it was scored? A lot happened between that moment and the ball hitting the net -- surely all of that was just part of the cut-and-thrust of the game. The referee missed it, but how far back do you go? The kick off?

How about FIFA decreeing that any post-goal checks will involve only the scorer and the player who provided the assist? Or maybe put a time limit of five seconds before the goal?

Fans most despise the miniscule offside decisions, which are a flawed concept because if you are going to deal in millimetres, then you have to know the exact moment the ball was last played and the 50 frames per second technology being used by the cameras can't do that. What were once deemed perfectly good goals are now being ruled out on decisions so fractional as to be farcical given the misapplication of science involved. Most ridiculous of all was the one given against Leeds striker Patrick Bamford at Crystal Palace as he pointed where he wanted the ball to be played, meaning a bit of his shoulder was in an offside position.

Moments like that -- and there have been too many -- fly in the face of the spirit of the game we love. They leave a sour taste. As things stand, the difference between being onside or off might be the size of boots you wear, or whether you have close-cropped or long hair.

So another suggestion: by all means use a freeze frame and a single thick line to judge offside, but the decision has to be made with the naked eye as it was before. Once you need those dreaded artificial lines to sort it out, just call it level and onside. The "clear daylight" idea is a good one, too. The benefit of the doubt was always meant to be with the attacking team, and this would restore it.

Handball has always been a tricky area, and short of saying it is a penalty every time a ball is handled in the area, accidentally or otherwise, it's hard to know how to clarify the current improved interpretations. Having said that, the handball and penalty given against Southampton's Ryan Bertrand in the defeat against Wolves on Sunday had us scratching our heads. The ball was blasted at Bertrand from fairly close-range; he half-turned his back and the ball struck his hand, which was hardly in an "unexpected or unnatural" position given the evasive action he was taking. It's hard to see how that game-changing penalty was given, but it is another example of how convoluted and difficult the laws and interpretations have become. Simplification and consistency are both needed.

Generally speaking, it has been a bad season for VAR. Its supporters would argue there are more correct decisions than before, but at what cost to the flow of the game and the entertainment value of the product? The spontaneous explosion of joy for a goal has been devalued by the realisation that an invisible private investigator in West London may be about to rule it out for a reason the fans don't quite understand.

The referees have not helped themselves. The red card, later rescinded, handed out last week by Mike Dean to West Ham's Tomas Soucek for what was obviously an accidental use of the elbow was just embarrassing. Why did VAR Lee Mason get involved?

Arguably the worst challenge of the campaign was somehow missed by VAR, when Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford clattered wildly into Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and ended his season back in October. Bizarrely, there was not even a retrospective red card for that one!

VAR has a long way to go to win over the people who play and watch the game for a living, let alone the supporters. FIFA perhaps need to strip the whole thing down and re-stress to officials: "Stay out of it unless there was a very major miscarriage of justice."

Obviously VAR can still be a useful tool, but things have to change drastically to prevent the widespread perception that it has become a pain in the neck and has stopped football being fun.

South Africa will travel to Ireland for three ODIs and three T20Is in July, as Cricket South Africa look to fill the men's team's winter with fixtures following the postponement of a three-Test home series against Australia.

This tour is part of the 2018-2023 Future Tours Programme (FTP) with the ODIs forming part of the World Cup Super League. The matches will be played between July 11 and 25 in Malahide and Stormont.

This is the first time South Africa are visiting Ireland since 2007 when they played one ODI against Ireland and a three-match ODI series against India in the country. Vernon Philander debuted on that tour. Since then, South Africa have only met Ireland at 50-over World Cups and never in a T20I.

"The tour marks a significant new chapter in our history as we visit one of the fast-developing cricket nations for a six-match tour," Graeme Smith, CSA's director of cricket said. "Ireland have shown themselves to be highly competitive adversaries in recent years, with a growing profile in the world game. It will also offer our players further international action in unfamiliar conditions, so we are looking forward to the contest."

Ireland last played cricket in January, when they travelled to Abu Dhabi for series against the UAE - which was interrupted by several positive cases of Covid-19 in the hosts' squad - and Afghanistan. Their tour to Zimbabwe, which was due to take place in April, has been indefinitely postponed because of the difficulties in scheduling which sees Zimbabwe play Afghanistan later this month and then host Pakistan.

Ireland have also announced dates for Zimbabwe's six-match tour, which comprises three World Cup Super League ODIs and three T20Is. The 50-over fixtures will be staged in Stormont, with the T20Is at Bready.

Cricket Ireland confirmed that talks are ongoing with the ECB and PCB around the possibility of staging a two-match T20I series against Pakistan in England, as revealed by ESPNcricinfo last month. Dates for Ireland's three-match World Cup Super League series in the Netherlands have also been confirmed for early June.

"Given the significant changes to the Future Tours Programme due to the postponement of home series' from 2020 - and all other countries having to reschedule fixtures over the period 2020-2023 - it has truly been a jigsaw puzzle for world cricket administrators to try to make the pieces fit," Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland said. "We look forward to the season ahead and thank our touring opponents for working with us on this restructured season."

Ireland is currently still allowing South Africans into the country, although they are required to spend 14-days in quarantine on arrival. It has not been confirmed if the South African team will be subject to the same requirements but with the tour still five months away, it will likely depend on the status of the pandemic. South Africa are also exploring the possibility of rescheduling last year's postponed two-Test and five T20I visit to the Caribbean as well as travelling to Sri Lanka and India in the winter.