In international cricket, the Ireland cricket team stands for the whole country of Ireland. The Irish Cricket Union, which does business as “Cricket Ireland,” is in charge of the sport in Ireland and puts together the international team. Ireland plays Test, One-Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I) matches, which are the three main types of international cricket. They became Full Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on June 22, 2017, along with Afghanistan. They are the 11th Full Member and the second Full Member from Europe.
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Cricket was first played in Ireland in the 1800s. In 1855, an Irish team played its first game. In the late 1800s, Ireland went on tours of Canada and the United States. They also sometimes hosted matches for other touring teams. The Ireland national cricket team’s biggest international rivalry is with the Scotland national cricket team. This rivalry began in 1888, when the two teams played each other for the first time. The first first-class match for Ireland was played in 1902.
History of Ireland Cricket:
Early history
The English brought cricket to Ireland in the early 1800s. They did this in the towns of Kilkenny and Ballinasloe. In the 1830s, the game started to become more popular, and many of the clubs that were started in the next 30 years are still around today. The Gentlemen of England came to Dublin to play the first Irish national team. In the 1850s. It was the Englishman Charles Lawrence’s coaching that helped the game grow in Ireland. In the 1850s and 1860s, professional teams on tour went to Ireland for the first time. In 1858, Ireland played its first game against the Marylebone Cricket Club (the M.C.C.).
Up until the early 1880s, a lot of people played the game. In the 1880s, the Irish Land Commission caused a land war, and the Gaelic Athletic Association banned playing “foreign” games, which meant British games. This slowed the spread of cricket. Before 1970, people who played foreign games like cricket were not allowed to play Irish games like hurling and Gaelic football. In 1879, 1888, 1892, and 1909, Irish teams went on tours of North America. Also, in 1904, Ireland beat a South African team that was on tour. On May 19, 1902, they played their first “first-class” game against a London County team that included W.G. Grace. The Irish, led by Sir Tim O’Brien as captain, won by a large margin of 238 runs.
Before 1993:
Irish did not play first-class cricket for five years after the 1902 England tour, where they won one match, drew two, and lost one. The team Ireland overcame South Africa in 1904, their first Test win after losing to them in 1894. Ireland and Scotland played their first annual first-class match in 1909, and from 1924, they played the MCC. The Irish played yearly first-class matches with the Scots, only interrupted by world wars, until 1999, but all their other cricket depended on touring international sides finding it convenient to visit Ireland.
Ireland beat the West Indies by 60 runs in a three-day match in Dublin in 1928, their first encounter against them. After bowling out a West Indian squad that included Clive Lloyd and Clyde Walcott for 25 at Sion Mills in County Tyrone in 1969, the team won by nine wickets. Before beating Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in 2003, Ireland had not defeated a touring side.
In 1979, Ireland drew with Sri Lanka in a rain-hit first-class match, scoring 341 for 7 in two innings and 288 for 6 in one. The Scots and Irish were largely fighting with Sri Lanka for the greatest non-Test nation title. Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands have competed in English county cricket championships such the Benson & Hedges Cup and Friends Provident Trophy (previously the C&G Trophy). County cricket does not prohibit nationality; therefore, non-Irish players could play for Ireland. In 1997 and 2007, South African Hansie Cronje and New Zealander Jesse Ryder played for Ireland.
Partner Member (1993–2007):
Ireland became an Associate Member of the ICC a year before Scotland did, in 1993. Ireland was able to play in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1994, and they ended up in seventh place. Three years later, they made it to the semi-finals of the competition, but they lost the third place play-off with Scotland and didn’t get to go to the 1999 cricket World Cup. In the 2001 tournament, Irish team came in eighth. Adrian Birrell was then hired as a coach.
When the ICC Intercontinental Cup started in 2004, Irish team got the chance to play first-class cricket more often. Ireland’s first Cup title came in October 2005 when they beat Kenya by six wickets. In 2004, they didn’t make it out of the group stage. Ireland hosted the ICC Trophy in 2005. The group stages were in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the final stages were in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The Irish made it to the final, but lost to Scotland. Even though Ireland didn’t win, they got to go to the 2007 World Cup and the ICC gave them an extra $500,000 over the next four years to help them improve their cricket. They also became an official ODI.
International status for one day (2007–present)
Irish team had nearly three months of cricket at the start of 2007. They played Division One of the ICC World Cricket League in Kenya. After four tight losses, Kenya won the league and they finished fifth. A South African high-performance camp preceded the World Cup. Ireland’s 2007 Cricket World Cup performance surprised many. On 15 March, Jeremy Bray’s first World Cup century and Trent Johnston and Andre Botha’s economical bowling in the final overs tied them with Zimbabwe. They eliminated Pakistan, the fourth-ranked team in the world, by three wickets in their second match on Saint Patrick’s Day.
These two results qualified Irish team for the Super 8. West Indies won their final group stage match by eight wickets. In the Super 8 stage, they lost to England, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Sri Lanka, but beat Bangladesh, the 9th-ranked Test team, by 74 runs. Dublin celebrated the team. Ireland played 17 ODIs in 2010, winning 11 (including a win over Bangladesh) and losing six. Ireland was eliminated from the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, hosted by South Africa in April and May, after losing to the West Indies and a washed-out match against England.
Captain William Porterfield batting against England at Malahide Cricket Club Ground’s 2013 inaugural ODI. Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka hosted the 2011 Cricket World Cup in February–March. Ireland defeated England despite not advancing. Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball century helped Ireland overcome England by 3 wickets. Ireland broke the World Cup run chase record by surpassing England’s 327.
Test status (2017–present):
In January 2012, Warren Deutrom, the CEO of Cricket Ireland, said that Ireland wanted to play Test cricket by 2020. Part of the reason they wanted to play Test cricket was to stop Irish players from using residency rules to move to England and play Test cricket there. Deutrom talked about the goal when he unveiled the new plan for Irish cricket through 2015. The plan set a number of ambitious goals, such as increasing the number of people who play to 50,000, aiming to be ranked 8th in the world, creating a structure for domestic first-class cricket, and making sure that cricket is the fifth most popular team sport in Ireland.
In 2009, Deutrom wrote to the ICC to say that his board planned to apply for Full Membership, which could lead to Test cricket, and to ask for more information about the process. Jason Gillespie, a former Australian bowler, said that if Ireland became a Test nation, it “would be huge news in the world of cricket and a huge positive story for the world game.” After Ireland beat the West Indies in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, former fast bowler Michael Holding said that the International Cricket Council should give Ireland Test status right away, saying “they need to be recognized now.” In 2015, the ICC said that Ireland would get Test status in 2019 if they won the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup and beat the 10th-ranked Test nation in a four-match Test series in 2018.
Controlling body:
The Irish Cricket Union, or ICU, is the organization in charge of cricket in Ireland. It was founded in 1923, but its predecessor had been around since 1890. The Union was made to represent cricket on the whole island of Ireland, not just in the Republic of Ireland, like a number of other sports governing bodies in Ireland. As with rugby union, rugby league, and field hockey, the Union does not use the Irish tricolor. Instead, it has its own flag, which is used by the International Cricket Council to represent the team and in ICC tournaments. “Ireland’s Call” is the national anthem.
In 2007, the ICU announced big changes to make it more like the other main cricket organization. [what did they do?] After the World Cup, many Irish cricket players were not available for the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy, which did not go well. The Irish cricket team was made up of part-time players, and most of them had full-time jobs that got in the way of playing cricket.
Warren Deutrom, the head of the ICU, has said that it wants to “seek actively to place Irish players in top-level cricket, by developing relationships with [especially] county cricket that will include appropriate player release for Irish international duty and feeder systems for developing Irish cricketers.” The reorganized ICU wanted to build stronger ties with the English county teams, help youth cricket grow, and add a professional element to the Irish game. They also want the Irish cricket team to go on more winter tours.
Team colors:
Ireland wears cricket whites to Test matches. If they want to, they can also wear a green v-neck sweater or vest with the Cricket Ireland logo in the middle. On the right breast of the shirt is the Cricket Ireland logo. On the sleeve is the logo for the manufacturer, and on the left breast is the logo for the sponsor. The fielders wear a white baseball cap with the Cricket Ireland logo or a navy blue cricket cap. The helmets of the batsmen are all the same color. In limited-overs cricket, Ireland wears an emerald green (in ODI) or lawn green (in T20) uniform with dark blue and white accents. The Cricket Ireland logo is on the right breast, the sponsor logo is in the middle, and the manufacturer logo is on the left breast. The fielders wear dark blue hats or caps that look like baseball caps.
Dark blue, sometimes called “presidential blue,” comes from the Irish Presidential seal and the Irish quarter of the British Royal coat of arms. It has been thought of as a secondary national color of Ireland for a long time, and it is often seen with green on the uniforms of all-Ireland teams for sports like hockey and rugby union. In tournaments run by the ICC, the sponsor logo goes on the arm sleeve that doesn’t lead. This makes room for “IRELAND” to be written in white in the middle of the shirt.
Current squad:
This is a list of all the active players who have played for Ireland in the last year (since April 25, 2022) and the forms in which they have played, as well as any other players (in italics) who have been chosen for the team’s most recent squad but don’t fit this description. It also includes all 19 players under contract with Cricket Ireland in March 2022, except for Peter Chase and William Porterfield, who will retire from international cricket in May 2022.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Domestic team | C/G | Forms | S/N | Last Test | Last ODI | Last T20I | Captaincy |
| Batters | |||||||||||
| Andrew Balbirnie | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 63 | 2019 | 2022 | 2022 | ODI and T20I (C) |
| Murray Commins | 25 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | Munster Reds | R | — | — | — | — | — | |
| William McClintock | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | North West Warriors | — | T20I | — | — | — | 2021 | |
| James McCollum | 27 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Northern Knights | F/T | — | 7 | 2019 | 2021 | — | |
| Paul Stirling | 32 | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Northern Knights | F/T | ODI, T20I | 1 | 2019 | 2022 | 2022 | ODI and T20I (VC) |
| Harry Tector | 23 | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 13 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Wicket-keepers | |||||||||||
| Stephen Doheny | 24 | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | North West Warriors | R | — | 20 | — | — | — | |
| Neil Rock | 22 | Left-handed | — | Northern Knights | F/T | ODI, T20I | 5 | — | 2022 | 2021 | |
| Lorcan Tucker | 26 | Right-handed | — | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 3 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| All-rounders | |||||||||||
| Curtis Campher | 23 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Munster Reds | F/T | ODI, T20I | 85 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Gareth Delany | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg-break | Munster Reds | F/T | ODI, T20I | 64 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| George Dockrell | 30 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 50 | 2019 | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Shane Getkate | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | North West Warriors | F/T | ODI, T20I | 58 | — | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Fionn Hand | 24 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Munster Reds | F/T | — | 71 | — | — | 2022 | |
| Kevin O’Brien | 38 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Leinster Lightning | — | ODI, T20I | 22 | 2019 | 2021 | 2021 | |
| Simi Singh | 35 | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 21 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Pace bowlers | |||||||||||
| Mark Adair | 26 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | Northern Knights | F/T | ODI, T20I | 32 | 2019 | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Graham Hume | 32 | Left-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | North West Warriors | F/T | — | 41 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Josh Little | 23 | Right-handed | Left-arm fast | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 82 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Barry McCarthy | 30 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Leinster Lightning | F/T | ODI, T20I | 60 | — | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Conor Olphert | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | North West Warriors | E | — | 34 | — | — | 2022 | |
| Craig Young | 32 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | North West Warriors | F/T | ODI, T20I | 44 | — | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Spin bowlers | |||||||||||
| Andy McBrine | 29 | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | North West Warriors | F/T | ODI, T20I | 35 | 2019 | 2022 | 2022 | |
| Ben White | 24 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg-break | Northern Knights | F/T | T20I | — | — | — | 2021 |
Coaching staff:
| Position | Name |
| High performance director | Richard Holdsworth |
| Head coach | Heinrich Malan |
| Batting and wicket keeping coach | Gary Wilson |
| Pace bowling coach | Ryan Eagleson |
| Spin bowling coach | Nathan Hauritz |
| Operations manager | Chris Siddell |
Records:
Summary of the international match:
| Playing record | ||||||
| Format | M | W | L | T | D/NR | Inaugural match |
| Tests | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 May 2018 |
| One-Day Internationals | 179 | 74 | 92 | 3 | 10 | 13 June 2006 |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 141 | 58 | 74 | 2 | 7 | 2 August 2008 |
Test matches:
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First win |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pakistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
One-Day Internationals:
| v. Full members | ||||||
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First win |
| Afghanistan | 30 | 13 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 3 July 2010 |
| Australia | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| Bangladesh | 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 15 April 2007 |
| England | 13 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 March 2011 |
| India | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Zealand | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pakistan | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 March 2007 |
| South Africa | 8 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 13 July 2021 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| West Indies | 15 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 16 February 2015 |
| Zimbabwe | 16 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 30 September 2010 |