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SYLHET, Bangladesh – Ireland Men’s Test squad has been training in Dhaka ahead of the second of the two-Test series starting Wednesday, and Harry Tector is looking forward to returning to the venue where he made his Test debut.

Tector, 25, made his Test debut in Dhaka in 2023 scoring twin half-centuries, and was speaking at a press conference today:

“I think any opportunity you have to play Test cricket is wonderful – it’s such a brilliant format. It tests you on so many facets, which is what you want as a player. You know, you want to feel that pressure and to be tested at the highest level. We’re looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow and try to level this series up.

“We’re trying to take the learnings from the first Test and apply them here. There were a lot of positives – the way Stirlo [Paul Stirling] batted up top was brilliant, and the two guys who made their debuts looked very comfortable at this level. Cade [Carmichael] played beautifully with the bat – he made his debut in ODIs during the summer against the West Indies and I thought he looked very at ease there against a high-quality pace attack at home. And then to come out here in totally different conditions to back home and look as comfortable as he did, scoring 50 in the first innings was brilliant.

“Jordan [Neill], he’s still so young and he’s still learning, but he’s got lots of brilliant attributes as the all-rounder – he’s a seriously talented batter, and we saw that with the runs he scored quite naturally.”

About the pitches:

“This is my fourth or fifth time playing here, and I can sort of recall playing on various types of pitches here. So, it can vary. I think here in Bangladesh, generally, you’ve got to play what’s in front of you on the morning of Day One and roll with it from there, and I think that’s going to be my plan.”

Also joining the press conference was Ireland Men’s head coach Heinrich Malan:

“We’ve obviously had a good look at the surface – and had a good look at the stats and the history – and from this we’ll hopefully put out a combination that can go out there and compete in those conditions. We’re expecting it to turn, but we are well aware it will be a different challenge to Sylhet.

“We’re preparing the same way that we always do. It doesn’t matter who we play, or where, we go into that next game with the same mindset of wanting to win the match, and it’s no different into this next five days.

“I feel the major learning we can take into the second Test is that we need to develop an understanding how we can go through those gears a little bit better. I think Bangladesh did that really well in the first Test – we bowled really well in that second session, but they went back into a lower gear and got through that period, then really cashed in at the back end.

“I’d say that the conditions can, a lot of the time, dictate the scoring rate. But playing to conditions is crucial in the long game. You saw in the second innings in Sylhet – we adapted accordingly and had some success.Hopefully, we can try and do that again here, finding that tempo that suits us over the next five days.”