Tomorrow sees Ireland play their first international multi-day match since their elevation to Test Status, when they take on the Netherlands in their penultimate Intercontinental Cup fixture.

The tournament has rather lost some of its lustre with the abolition of the much-hyped "Test Challenge" which would have seen the winner take on the lowest-ranked Full Member for a chance to play Tests - Ireland and Afghanistan's elevation coming by fiat rather than efforts on the field.

Nonetheless there's plenty of pride on the line, with Ireland one point behind the Afghans in their hunt for a fifth I-Cup title. Needless to say the prospect of the ICC's newest full member losing at home to a Netherlands side with a historically poor record in four-day cricket is not one the Irish camp would wish to dwell on.

For the Dutch, conversely, there's absolutely nothing to lose. Some 31 points adfrift in third place, the Netherlands' chances of topping the table were already remote, and with the scrapping of the Test challenge there's nothing much to be gained either. Lacking their Irish rivals' immediate Test ambitions, the Netherlands have tended to treat the Associates' First Class competition as an opportunity to blood young players - and will again be taking a very developmental squad to Dublin.

Conversely, Ireland have generally seen the Intercontinental Cup as the most important component of their international calendar, as is reflected in their dominant record in the competition in general and against the Dutch in particular. In their previous five encounters the Irish have only been denied victory once, back in 2005, and then by the weather as much as by their opponents.

Nonetheless in recent years the Irish have come off worse against the men in Orange, albeit in the shortest format. The two sides have not played a four-day match since Ireland's win at Deventer in the previous edition of the tournament, but since that tour the Dutch have beaten the Irish convincingly in the three T20 matches they have played.

Though T20 results are clearly a poor indicator of the sides relative strengths in the four-day format, the Dutch nevertheless represent something of a banana skin for an aging Irish side. The fact that they will be without all of their country-contracted players, as well as missing key players due to injury, would serve make the optics of an upset all the worse for the hosts.

Nonetheless an Ireland win remains the second most likely outcome this week, with a rain-affected draw the favourite. Sadly no preview of a home Ireland international would be complete without a weather forecast, and with torrential rain in Malahide at press time it's difficult to be optimistic. Though tomorrow looks set to be fine, the rest of the week looks deeply dubious, and either side will likely need something special to come away from the game with 20 points.