The euphoria following Friday's maiden Test win is still fresh in the mind, but there has been mixed news emerging on the fixtures front this year.

Normally you would have expected the international calendar for the year to have been officially released by March, but doubts over certain fixtures has led to the considerable delay.

Australia media have been reporting over the weekend that a proposed tour by them to Dublin in September has been scrapped.

Malahide had been approached about the possibility of hosting, but the huge financial costs of staging games in Dublin, with hotels and infrastructure costs making it financially unviable.

Indeed, such is the expense involved that a Cricket Ireland delegation were in the UAE this week to finalise staging arrangements for white-ball series against South Africa that will take place in late September and early October at the Emirati venue.

It's not all doom and gloom for fans hoping to see matches on home soil, with Clontarf the venue for three T20I's against Pakistan in May.

Ireland continue their World Cup preparations with a tri-series in The Netherlands with the hosts and Scotland from May 17-24, before heading to the USA, where they are in a group with India, Pakistan, USA, and Canada.

They are due to host a Test against Zimbabwe at Stormont in July, that hopefully will now definitely go ahead following Friday's win. There had been some concern that it would be called off if a significant portion of expected ICC funding didn't materialise. It would be a brave Board who would dare to cancel the match now!

Bready will making a welcome return to hosting men's internationals as Zimbabwe play their T20I and ODI series in Tyrone.

Ireland Women will also be making the journey north to Stormont for their high profile ODI clashes with England, while Sri Lanka will play in Dublin.

Plenty then to get the appetite whetted for the summer ahead.