Little, Ireland's excellent left-arm seamer, has been a mainstay of Gujarat Titans' table-topping outfit within the ongoing IPL, claiming six wickets within the match so far together with a Player-of-the-Match-winning haul of two for 25 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens final week.

But, with Ireland needing a clean-sweep of their three-match sequence to have any probability of displacing South Africa in eighth place within the World Cup Super League standings, and thereby safe computerized qualification for the principle occasion in India this yr, Little has linked again up together with his Ireland team-mates for the primary time for the reason that tour of Zimbabwe in January.

"It's a huge boost," Balbirnie stated on the eve of the primary ODI. "He has become a world-class operator, and we're very grateful to have him back into the squad for these games. He's obviously had a really good time of it at the IPL, so to have him throughout this week for these games is a great boost for us as a group, and obviously for the bowlers as well, and the learnings that they take from him. Hopefully, from our point of view, he can have a good week performance-wise and have an impact for us.

"There's quite a lot of speak, and lots being written and stated about it," Balbirnie added, referencing the ongoing debate about the future of international cricket amid the proliferation of T20 leagues. "But we're simply comfortable that [Josh] is enjoying for us. He's very shut with the group, and grew up with quite a lot of us, and there is no angst about him not enjoying for us in sure video games. We're simply delighted with the progress he is made.

"He's on the world stage and performing, and that's something that has proven to a lot of the group that it can be done, with hard work and discipline. Having only bowled four-over spells over a period of time, to come in and bowl ten overs will maybe be a bit taxing on him. But he's a pretty fit guy and he's just a really good player for us now. We're just very lucky to have him for the week."

Josh Little claimed a hat-trick for Ireland towards New Zealand within the current T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Balbirnie himself made scores of 95 and 46 within the Test, with Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher each posting centuries, and regardless of the frustration within the closing outcome, Ireland's captain was comfortable to take the positives from the efficiency.

"Going from Galle to Chelmsford, it's certainly two different ends of the spectrum, but when you're just looking at it as a bat-versus-ball contest, it is nice to know that you've got a bit of form in the bank over the last couple of weeks. So hopefully, us as batters can take that forward into this week

"I can solely communicate for myself, however batting is batting, it doesn't matter what the format is. You're going to be assured since you've acquired runs, albeit on a really, superb wicket, it provides confidence that you are able to do it for an extended time frame towards good bowling."

Given the importance of the series, and the potential reward if Ireland can achieve their aim of a 3-0 clean-sweep, Balbirnie admitted it was a disappointment not to be playing their home series on home soil. However, he added that he accepted the logistical constraints - a combination of poor weather prospects and Cricket Ireland's costly overheads for setting up temporary facilities - and backed his players to put their best foot forward regardless.

"I'm not going to take a seat right here and say that we need to be right here essentially," he said. "Essex have been actually good at facilitating us, they've made us really feel as house as doable, however definitely as an Irish cricketer, you need to play your house video games in Ireland and also you need to play in entrance of your crowd which can be actually passionate in regards to the recreation, and family and friends and stuff.

"So it's slightly disappointing but, at the same time, we've got to just get on with it. We don't make those decisions, and I don't want to dwell too much on it, because we are here and it's not going to change. We try to win games of cricket for Ireland and hopefully some people make the trip over this week."

The probability, nonetheless, is that Bangladesh's wealth of UK-based help - not least the communities in East London for whom Chelmsford is a half-hour commute - will flock to the three video games to create an environment that moderately favours the guests.

"To be honest, I think no matter where we play in the world, there'll probably be more Bangladeshi people there than Irish. Even if we're playing in Dublin, there'd be a big Bangladeshi crowd here. We want to play in front of a lot of people, we want to showcase our skills and make our game bigger. So if we can put in performances against a hostile Bangladesh crowd, then great. But I do hope to see a bit of Irish colour in the crowd as well. Naturally, we want to play in front of our people and hopefully put on a good show."

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket