Fans of Test match cricket were left bitterly disappointed when Ireland announced a fixture list for international matches this summer without a single red-ball game.

As widely reported, the Boys in Green will face the West Indies in an ODI series at Clontarf in May, and three T20 internationals at Bready in Co Tyrone the following month, before ending the season with a T20 series against England at Malahide.

But the hoped-for Test against South Africa — or even a four-day match to help the Proteas prepare for the World Championship final against Australia at Lord’s — was conspicuously absent from the official schedule.

And Cricket Ireland confirmed that a multi-format series against Afghanistan, which originally included a Test, has been scrapped ‘for budgetary reasons’.

Since gaining Full Membership of the ICC in 2017, Ireland have played just two home games in their whites — losing to Pakistan at Malahide in 2018, and beating Zimbabwe in Belfast last year.

Yet the players love the longer game and make this very clear at every opportunity, and the supporters are strongly in favour too.

And with three consecutive Test match wins in the past year, it could be argued it’s their strongest format.

So why are the suits at Cricket Ireland so reluctant to put on a summer showpiece?

The answer can’t just be money — although every Test match loses heavily — it’s surely budget priorities.

Last month the already overstaffed governing body advertised seven roles in the organisation from Finance Director to Community Hub Coordinator to Scorers’ Officer.

All very important positions no doubt that will help CI with its corporate governance but it seems the bigwigs have lost sight of the fact that their primary role is to stage games of cricket.

And let’s not forget that as a ‘Test-playing nation’ they receive more than three times as much cash from the ICC than teams of a similar level, like Scotland and the Netherlands.

The West Indies, who would be ideal opponents in home conditions, will instead play two instantly forgettable white-ball series, each spanning the five days it takes to play a Test match.

The next scheduled red-ball outing is in Bangladesh at the end of the year, where Ireland lost in 2023, but nothing is definite at this level and fixtures can be scrapped at the last minute as was the proposed second Test in Zimbabwe last month.