Ireland v South Africa T20: Andrew Balbirnie’s T20 career not over says coach Malan

The Ireland coach added that big-hitting Adair, whose brother Mark is also part of the squad, could open the batting or alternatively be used as a “finisher” later in the innings.

“We’re looking at the three, four, five order of [Harry] Tector, [Curtis] Campher and [Neil] Rock, so there’s a bit of change in personnel from that perspective,” added Malan, who confirmed wicketkeeper Tucker will open the batting in Friday’s game.

The Abu Dhabi contests will be Ireland’s first T20 games since their disappointing World Cup campaign in June in the USA, which included a shock defeat by Canada in addition to more expected losses against India and Pakistan.

Josh Little’s Caribbean Premier League commitments with Trinbago Knight Riders mean he is missing the five white-ball contests against South Africa over the next fortnight.

Little has had scant recent competitive activity for the Knight Riders and Malan revealed that the Ireland management have been in touch with the seamer offering their “support” during a mini-lull in his franchise career.

“It’s a little period in his career where he’s not playing as much as he wants but it allows him to work on his game and hopefully the work he does behind the scenes will come to the fore when he plays for us.”