01 Sep, 4.40am  The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup is just around the corner and in the lead-up to the mega event, England face Ireland in a three-match ODI series, the first of which will be played at Headingley in Leeds. The English cricketing summer has seen plenty of action both domestically and internationally and New Zealand were the latest team to finish their white-ball tour just a few days back after losing 3-1 to the hosts in the ODI series. England, as expected have made a lot of changes to the side for this particular series against Ireland and almost all of the first-team members have been rested keeping the World Cup in mind. Joe Root though will be a part of the squad and will be hoping to get some runs under his belt and it will be Zak Crawley who will lead the team. Crawley had an excellent Ashes just a couple of months back but has only featured in three ODIs for the senior national side, and all of them came against Pakistan during the height of Covid-19. Rehan Ahmed and Luke Wood are two other members that will look to make a mark and with an explosive batting trio of Philip Salt, Ben Duckett and Sam Hain also in the mix, this is by no means a slouch team. There as as many as three uncapped players in the squad and all three of them will most certainly get at least one chance over the course of these three matches. Moving on to Ireland now and they have their usual full-strength team which always possesses a threat and it will be Paul Stirling leading the team. Stirling along with former captain Andy Balbirnie will have a big job up top with the bat and both have been in decent ODI form off late. The likes of Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker will hope to start getting more consistent but even if they don't, Curtis Campher in that middle order will play a big role for the visitors. Joshua Little and Mark Adair are both excellent new ball bowlers and both will hope to use the English conditions to their benefit. A series that might not seem like an important one given the World Cup in sight and the team England are playing but it is still a pretty big deal. England can assess this series in order to fill places in the team that might open up after the World Cup and keep the transition smooth. On the other hand, Ireland will only become better by playing against a quality opposition. Talking about the playing conditions, it will be overcast at Headingley with a few chances of rain as well. The pitch is good for batting but if the pacers hit their strides, they can have a field day as well. So, will a young England side filled with quality individuals rise up to the challenge? Or will an experienced Irish side be able to take the lead? We shall find out.