Harry Tector will be looking to put a difficult 2024 behind him this week when Ireland take on Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match in Bulawayo at the start of a multi-format tour.

The 25-year-old Dubliner’s meteoric rise, that has shot him into the top tier of international batsman, experienced its first hiccup as he recorded a run of nine single figure scores in 12 innings for the Boys in Green.

Tector bounced back with a quality 60 against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in the final match of the year, and could end his search for a first Test match century on a Bulawayo Sports Club pitch where Afghanistan rattled up 699 last month.

Harry Tector (CricketIreland)

“It’s hard to know how the pitch will play,” Tector said. “We know what happened in the Afghan games, and we’ll have a good look at conditions and try to create a game plan from that. 

“One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be hot.”

Ireland’s tenth Test match since gaining full membership of the International Cricket Council in 2017 will be Tector’s seventh and he admits that he is still learning the different tactics and  subtleties of the longer game.

“I’m becoming more used to Test cricket, and the flow of it,” he said. “The thing you have to adapt to the most as a batter is the concept of time, and how much more time you have in a five-day game, and that’s something I’m looking to improve on.

“Because we play so much white-ball cricket you can get drawn into thinking you have to move the game along, whereas sometimes there are periods when you can just absorb pressure, and that’s what I’m trying to learn.”

Skipper Andy Balbirnie, is the only Irishman to have played in all nine Tests to date, leading his side to their first victories against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe last year.

But like Tector he has yet to record a Test century — falling five short against Sri Lanka in Galle two years.

The Ireland attack will again be led by seamer Mark Adair, who joined up with the squad in the UAE after a successful stint with Gulf Giants in the ILT20..

While the support for experienced off-spinner Andy McBrine will be a straight choice between left-armer Matthew Humphreys and uncapped leggie Gavin Hoey, who impressed on his international debut in Abu Dhabi in October.

IRELAND (from) Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Morgan Topping, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.