The 33-year-old veteran of nearly 400 international appearances is excited to be playing on what he considers to be his home ground at Stormont, having grown up locally, and wants to put on a show for family and friends.
“It’s a special occasion not just for me put for everyone in this part of the country, to host a Test,” Stirling said. “People in Belfast love their cricket, so hopefully the weather will play its part and we’ll have a good crowd come in.
“For me, it’ll be one of the few chances to play in front of a wider group of family and friends — not just mum and dad. That will make it really special — batting in a Test match with people there who I’ve grown up with and who’ve helped my career.
“I’m very fond of Stormont. It’s one of those places where if it’s a good pitch, and you get in, the runs seem to come quickly and the boundaries leak down to the bottom side where the big scoreboard is.”
It was Stirling’s century against Pakistan in an ODI on the ground in 2011 – his first against one of the Test-playing nations – that confirmed his potential as a 20-year-old, and caught the eye of opposition coach Waqar Younis.
“That was one of the best knocks I’ve seen,” the great fast bowler said. “Stirling plays proper cricket shots, he has good footwork, plenty of time and he’s not scared of playing shots against any bowler.”
Despite becoming one of the most sought after openers on the slap dash T20 circuit, he has continued playing proper shots, accumulating 12,092 runs in 396 international appearances — a record number of caps for any Irish sportsman or woman.
Yet for all his travels and time living in London, Stirling still calls Belfast home and has insisted his team-mates get a flavour of the city as they play only their second home Test since becoming ICC Full Members in 2017.
“I pushed Cricket Ireland to get a hotel in the centre this time,” he said. “In the past we’ve stayed a long way out, or on the ring road, and you don’t feel as though you’re in the town. It’s a Test in Belfast and I wanted us to stay in Belfast, and we are.
“We’ll be walking distance to restaurants and the centre in the evenings. There’s so much history in Belfast, and we’ll be right in the heart of it as we play the first Test match here. I think that’s important.
“As a team, we’ll have a greater appreciation of the whole story instead of just getting on the pitch and trying your best, and I hope the whole week is going to be made more special by that.”
While history and tradition are two of the reasons why the longer game is popular with international players, so is the rhythm of multi-day matches — an ebb and flow that is likely to be on show again as Stormont becomes the 115th venue to host a Test.
“The great thing about Test cricket is the tempo to it,” Stirling said. “It’s much slower than white-ball games and you can grind it out for seven hours in the middle, then go out with friends in the evening, before continuing the game again the next day.
“It’s one of the reasons why it’s so brilliant.”
Ireland tasted victory in the format for the first time in March when they beat Afghanistan by six wickets in Abu Dhabi, and will be confident of doubling up in home conditions against rivals who are always competitive.
“At the start of this year we were targeting this Zimbabwe game for our first Test win,” Stirling admitted.
“We got that quicker than expected against Afghanistan, so now we’re looking for a second victory, and no better place to do it.”
