Tom Latham says New Zealand are looking only at Ire Vs Nz, insisting the fifth-ranked side are not treating this week’s solitary Test in Belfast as a warm-up for anything else. Ireland and New Zealand meet at Stormont on Wednesday in a four-day contest that gives the hosts a rare chance to test themselves against a side with 10,000 international runs of experience spread across a seasoned group.
“We are solely focused on this match and we're looking forward to what the next four days presents,” Latham said, adding that New Zealand are “certainly not taking it lightly.” The opener said the tourists arrive with a slightly different squad because some players are absent through franchise commitments, but most of the group have already played Test cricket. “It’s important to learn from those experiences,” he said.
The fixture matters because Ireland are still building their place in the longest format. This will be only their 13th Test in red-ball cricket and their first against New Zealand. Their last home Test was at the same ground in July 2024, when they beat Zimbabwe at Stormont, and this week’s match gives them another chance to measure that progress in front of home supporters. For New Zealand, it is a brief stop before a busier stretch that includes a three-Test series in England in June, with matches at Lord’s, the Oval and Trent Bridge.
Latham framed the trip as an immediate task rather than a rehearsal, saying New Zealand want to “display our skills as best we can and play our brand of cricket as best we can.” He said there is not a large amount of Test-match footage of Ireland for New Zealand to study, which means the visitors may have to adjust quickly once play begins. “From an Ireland point of view there's not a huge amount of footage of Test matches so for us it's really important for us to adapt on the go and adapt to conditions as quickly as we can,” he said.
That challenge cuts both ways. New Zealand have recent red-ball wins over the West Indies and Zimbabwe in 2025, and the tourists have also spent time in this part of the world before through ODI and T20 cricket. Still, Latham said those short-format visits offer only part of the picture, especially with a Test in Belfast likely to depend on patience, conditions and the first exchanges with ball and bat.
Weather may also shape how much of the contest is decided on the field. Latham said he hoped the forecast would hold, saying: “Fingers crossed, the weather remains sunny like this and we can get a full game in.” For Ireland, a full match would be another step in a format they have entered only 13 times. For New Zealand, it is the sort of assignment that asks for concentration now, even with England waiting in June.
Latham said that future is already in the background, but not in the dressing-room conversation. “We know what we've got coming up in a few weeks but our focus is solely on this Test match,” he said. After years of limited red-ball opportunities, Ireland now get a visit from one of the game’s most established Test nations. New Zealand, for their part, arrive saying the same thing: this one is the only match that counts today.
