Sydney Parade will host the interprovincial season curtain-raiser with the opening T20 Festival taking place at Pembroke from Wednesday May 1st until Friday May 3rd.

Leinster Lightning will be hoping to wrestle back the crown from holders Northern Knights, who completed the double last year.

The Dubliners have won the T20 Trophy on seven of the eleven occasions the competition has been held, with the Knights and Warriors winning twice apiece.

The Irish internationals will be able to use the three days to warm up for the visit of Pakistan (May 10-14).

The following week sees Lightning meet Munster in another T20 - at Oakhill on May 15th (3.30pm), with the sides meeting the following day in the first of the fifty-overs Cup games.

Warriors are due to meet Knights at Bready the week after that, once again in a T20 and 50 overs contests, with midweek matches seeming to be the order of the day to try and reduce costs.

The role of honour for the IP50 stands at eight wins for Lightning, two by the Knights and one for Munster reds.

Once again there will be no IP Championship and plans for North v South red-ball games look to be hanging in the balance. Leinster have been the dominant force in the format - winning six of the seven titles, with the Warriors successful in 2018.

The Championship hasn't been held since 2019, due firstly to Covid, then the costs involved.