Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland is the governing body and the enforcer of cricket in the island country surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean. Not only they govern but also find and ensure the long success of cricket in Ireland. Since its establishment, Cricket Ireland has created a sustainable environment for the growth of cricket. They oversee both men’s national team and women’s national team apart from conducting the domestic competitions in the island country.
#Cricket Ireland History
The informal Ireland Cricket Union was established in 1890 but had very limited functioning. In 1923, an official and formal Cricket Union was formed in Ireland, which consisted of the five provinces. The five provinces are Leinster Cricket Union, Munster Cricket Union, Northern Cricket Union, North West Cricket Union, and Connacht Cricket Union. However, there were neither significant achievements nor any progress in Ireland.
It took them over half a century to be recognized as an associate nation by the International Cricket Council. ICC recognized Cricket Ireland as an associate country in 1993, and since then they have grown beyond bounds. They shocked the whole world when they defeated Pakistan’s ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007. Considering their giant strides, the Irish Cricket Union was dissolved and Cricket Ireland was formed in 2008. Cricket Ireland is a limited company and not a government body. Following their success in 2011 and 2015, International Cricket Council awarded Cricket Ireland with the test nation status along with Afghanistan in 2017.
#Tournaments held by Cricket Ireland are as follows:
Like all the other cricket boards, Cricket Ireland also holds the domestic competition to promote the sport among the masses. Starting from the school level, Cricket Ireland takes off every age group and digs out the talent in every possible manner. Here are the list of tournaments that Cricket Ireland conducts:
Get Into Cricket Scheme:
- Inter-Provincial Championship
- Better Clubs Initiative
- Irish Senior Cup
- All Ireland T20 Cup
Irish Senior Cup, also known as Bob Kerr Cup, is a 50-over domestic tournament held between Irish amateur clubs. It is one of the highly regarded knockout competitions across Ireland where people from different professions participate.
#Cricket Ireland: President
At present, Cricket Ireland is presided by Phillip Black. Phillip Black was appointed as the president of Cricket Ireland after a general body meeting held on a conference call in July 2020. Phillip Black is a long term associate with Cricket Ireland as he held the post of treasurer in the past. During his tenure as treasurer, Phillip Black worked hard to raise the annual revenue from 400 thousand euros to 10 million euros.
During the Annual General Meeting, it was also decided to extend the term till 2022 because of the ongoing pandemic situation. Phillip Black replaced David O Connor as the president in July. Under David O Connor, Cricket Ireland reached great heights as Ireland national team played the iconic test match at Lords, qualified for the T20 World Cup and so on.
#Cricket Ireland: Headquarters
Cricket Ireland’s headquarters is situated in Leinster province of Ireland. The office is located at Kinsealy Business Park of Dublin and is surrounded by the golf grounds.
#Cricket Ireland: Secretary
The current secretary of Cricket Ireland is Mr. Ross McCollum, who also holds the chairman’s office in Cricket Ireland. Ross McCollum is the former domestic player of Cricket Ireland who played against Gloucestershire on his List A debut. He is the chairman of Cricket Ireland since 2010.
#Cricket Ireland Selectors
Recently in March, before the pandemic stunned the whole world, Cricket Ireland appointed Nigel Jones as the selector for the men’s international team. The former Irish international player had featured in 34 games between 2009 to 2012. Nigel Jones replaced Albert van der Merwe as the selector in March 2020.
Nigel Jones is accompanied by the likes of Andrew White, Ian McGregor, Simon Johnston and Graham Ford in the selection of the players for the national team.
