Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland: domestic tournaments, competitions, cups and leagues
First-Class
Cricket Ireland: National Team and Domestic Teams (Clubs)
Ireland Cricket Team
Munster Reds
Cricket of Ireland - the governing body for cricket in All-Ireland
Cricket Ireland is the governing body for cricket in Ireland, which is responsible for developing national teams in men’s and women’s cricket and organizing a series of domestic championships and regulating sports relations and interests in the international arena. Read about how the organization was formed in our material.
Cricket Ireland: how cricket developed in Ireland
The first cricket match in Ireland was held in 1792, in which the Military of Ireland and the Gentlemen of Ireland played. Since that time, the Irish community has become even more interested in this sport, and already in the mid-1850s, cricket became a popular sport in the country. The first international match against England was held in 1855, which Ireland confidently beat.
However, cricket itself fell into decline by the end of the 19th century. The fact is that only wealthy Irishmen, for example, landowners, could play cricket. But representatives of the working class were fond of Gaelic Games, which gained great popularity. But, of course, the roots of the confrontation were in politics. In 1902, The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) introduced Draconian Law 27, according to which Gaelic Games players were forbidden to watch and take part in all English competitions – football, rugby and cricket.
This ban was in effect for 70 years, thanks to which cricket was almost wiped off the face of Ireland. But, despite this, it was still played in the north of the country. In 1923, the Irish Cricket Union (Cricket Ireland) was formed. The organization was engaged in preparing the national cricket team, organized matches against foreign rivals (the Scots and the English), and agreed on test tours. It included 5 provincial unions that were responsible for the game in their regions:
- Leinster Cricket Union.
- Munster Cricket Union.
- Northern Cricket Union.
- Connacht Cricket Union.
- North West Cricket Union.
In 1933, Ireland was accepted as an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council. The Union represented the entire island of Ireland at the competitions, but it performed under its own flag, which had nothing to do with the official Irish tricolor.
The performance of the Irish in cricket at the national level began in 1980 in the English Gillette Cup, when the prohibition of Draconian Law subsided. Of course, the Irish national team did not demonstrate outstanding success on the field. It took it 24 years to understand the gameplay, develop a strategy, gain new knowledge and experience, and finally get in shape that allows it to resist rivals adequately.
By the way, an interesting detail: women’s cricket has developed in Ireland much more successfully than men’s. After all, the women made their first appearance at the Cricket World Cup, and their best achievement was 4th place, which they took in 1988.
Cricket Ireland: how the structure has developed in our time
As we mentioned above, women’s cricket developed in Ireland much faster than men’s. In 2000, Cricket Ireland received Test-status for competitions for women, but men’s cricket received the same status only 17 years later – in 2017. This happened after it became an official member of the ICC.
In general, initially, Ireland was part of the first division teams of the Associate Members of the International Cricket Council, which allowed the Irish to compete in international competitions such as ODI and T20I. But since 2017, Cricket Ireland has become a full member of the ICC.
Competitions that Cricket Ireland supervises:
- Irish Senior Cup.
- National Cup.
- All-Ireland T20 Cup.
- Inter-Provincial Championship.
- Inter-Provincial Cup.
- Inter-Provincial Trophy.
- Super 3s.
Issues that Cricket Ireland deals with:
- Popularization of cricket in Ireland.
- Development of professional contracts for cricketers divided into territorial categories.
- Creation of training bases and regional academies.
- Development of cricket sports sections in public education institutions.
- Development of national awards.
- Tracking international rankings, developing strategies to achieve new success in competitions.
- Creation of the concept of new national cricket competitions in different age categories.
- Support for local cricket clubs.
Cricket Ireland sets new goals for the upcoming season every year and is working hard to implement initiatives aimed at strengthening the position of regional and international cricket as a professional sport.
