Matthew Humphreys will be looking for an early birthday present as Ireland take on South Africa today in the first game of their two-match T20I series in Abu Dhabi.

The Lisburn left-arm spinner turns 22 on Sunday and will be looking to get an opportunity to add to his five caps.

Humphreys made his debut in March 2023 during a tough tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka- one of only two new caps in the last two years, Theo van Woerkom the other. 

There was happier times though as he returned after a 15-month absence to play in the Test win over Zimbabwe. He's hoping the spin-friendly conditions in the UAE prove to his liking.

"It's quite hard to predict how the pitches will play here, but you would imagine there will be some assistance for the spinners." said Humphreys. 

"It's a case of trying to work out what's happening and adapting quickly. That's something that comes from experience and playing in those different environments should hopefully help with that."

Humphreys will have the benefit of the presence of spin coach Chris Brown, who has proved a great help to him.

"Browny has been great, the difference he has made since starting has been pretty clear to see. It can be hard going from training on seamer friendly pitches or indoors at home, to having to take on more of the workload in spinning conditions, but we always band together well and try to work out what's going to work wherever we are. 

"It's nice having guys with different experiences also, George has wealth of knowledge and Whitey has had a good bit of success in the T20 stuff recently so he's always passing on advice."

Despite only having five caps, Humphreys has featured in all three formats, but there's no doubting which he prefers.

"It's definitely Test cricket for me. Hard to look past the history and prestige of it. But white ball cricket is a great challenge in its own way too. Something is always happening and you're often on the back foot as a spinner so you need to be comfortable dealing with that as well."

In his short time within the international fold, how has his game developed?

"The obvious answer is the consistency piece but for me it’s having more revs on the ball and better control over my seam position. Then you have the ability to challenge batters through the air or off the pitch and hopefully both."

Ireland's first T20I against South Africa starts at 4.30pm on Friday at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi.