Ireland face New Zealand in a rare home Test match this week. Since the inaugural five dayer in June 2018 there has only been one other, in Stormont two years ago, so fans of the longest format will be flocking back to the Belfast venue from Wednesday.

One man who can’t wait is Matthew Humphreys, who can expect to be Ireland’s main contributor of spin.

He is eager to get back to red ball cricket, by far his favourite format.

‘It’s just the tactics of it,’ he offers. ‘There’s so many different phases in the game that you don’t really get in white ball. T20 cricket is just the same thing over and over again. People say red ball cricket is boring, but to me T20 is boring.

‘It’s just, you try to hit every ball for six and the bowler tries not to get it hit for six.

‘Tactically red ball cricket’s very difficult at times, but when it comes off there’s no better feeling. Especially as a spin bowler, bowling teams out on the final day – you don’t get anything better than that.’

That takes him back to the Bulawayo test against Zimbabwe last Spring, when he took 6-57 in the final innings to bowl Ireland to victory.

‘Statistically it’s definitely the highlight of my career, but to be honest I think I have bowled better spells,’ he says. ‘It was just one of those days where things click for you.

‘Cricket’s such a fickle game: you bowl badly some days and you take wickets and you bowl well other days and you get whacked. Learning to accept that has been quite a big part of my development.

‘People talk a lot about the lack of red ball cricket we play. Winning those three tests in a row showed the world that we are able to compete on the Test stage.

‘In Tests, it’s hard to escape a beating at times which makes the good days all the sweeter.

‘Bulawayo was a really well-poised match throughout. We beat them in Belfast in another tight game and we knew that they would be up for it in their backyard. That whole final day is going to be hard to forget.’

Humphreys is in a transitional phase in his life at the minute, just finished his Maths degree at Trinity, moving home to Belfast, and switching from Lisburn to his original club Instonians.

‘My time at Lisburn is a big part of where I’ve gotten to today. The faith they put in me over those years and the team dynamic we had.

‘Faiz Fazal was our pro, a Ranji trophy-winning captain. He was the best mentor you could have in terms of working out tactically how to bowl in competitive cricket. We won the Premier League in 2022, my breakthrough season, and then I got into the Knights set-up. It all stemmed from there.’

Still only 23, he’s captaining the Knights now, and the Northern Strikers selection in the Emerald Challenge last week.

It’s a role he relishes: ‘I love it. It keeps you in the game a lot of the time. It makes you feel a little bit more accountable for the results. It inspires your performance. You want to be the guy to lead from the front and show the guys how it’s done in terms of captaincy style.

‘It’s definitely my favourite format. The tactical nuance of the whole thing is what cricket’s all about. And getting to wear the armband is good fun.’

Is captaining Ireland in his ambitions locker?

‘Yeah, a hundred percent. It’s what everyone wants. It’s the highest honour you can get in what we do. It’s a while off yet, but yeah, any opportunity to captain is always a positive.’

Three years ago, Humphreys became just the seventh man to make his first-class debut in a Test since 1900. It didn’t go well, the teenager apparently losing the confidence of the captain who gave him just 10 of the 151 overs Ireland bowled.

Did he feel at that stage that Test cricket was too much for him?

‘I don’t know. The main thing was it showed me how little I knew, how far off the pace I was.

‘I knew my skills weren’t good enough, but I could see the level they could get to. And I didn’t think it was that far away.’

Any player you talk to about ‘Humph’ says the same thing: he’s a spin bowling badger, never happier than when he’s talking about the mechanics of his craft.

‘Yeah, I suppose,’ he says, ‘I would say left arm spinners in general are a rare breed.

‘I think I actually come and go in terms of technical stuff and whether I actually pay attention to it at times, which annoys [Ireland spin coach] Chris Brown a bit sometimes.

‘I’m a big guy for “feel” in your action rather than in foundations or the mechanics of how you’re moving. I’ll watch other left arm spinners and try to imitate parts of their action that I like. Mitchell Santner’s wrist would be a big one that I would talk about.

‘My big three would be Santner, Axar Patel and Gudakesh Motie. They’re all very, quite different.’

Sadly for Humphreys, if not his team-mates, Santner misses out on Stormont with a shoulder injury.

Although his student days are over, Humphreys looks back on them with warmth.

‘I loved Trinity. It’s obviously a pretty cool campus, good atmosphere, and playing for Trinity in College Park is a very cool experience.’

Maths took up a lot of his time, but he played a lot of cricket too. He had studied in Dublin where his mother Sinéad had been a leading light in Trinity’s Cumann Gaelach.

Does Matt have a cúpla focail?

‘No, I’d never say never, but I haven’t got around to it yet. It could be the next side quest.’

The next focus however is Test cricket, as well as turning the perennial bridesmaids the Knights into a winning side.

‘I’ll be doing some professional exams in the next couple of years, maybe actuary or accountancy, but I’ve no concrete plans at the minute.

‘I still try to keep up on Maths. I’ll read papers and go back and read notes and watch YouTube videos. I think when you finish your degree you realise how much you don’t know.’

But first, he’s got to get the sums right in Stormont.