Ireland Cricket Team

The Ireland cricket team is the cricket team representing all of Ireland. They are an Associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and ranked 11th in One Day International (ODI) cricket, the highest of the Associate teams. Ireland played their first ODI in 2006 against England. Since then, they have gone on to play 101 ODIs, resulting in 45 victories, 47 defeats, 6 no results, and 3 ties. Contracts for players were introduced in 2009, marking the transition to becoming a professional team. Cricket Ireland is the sport's governing body in Ireland. Cricket was introduced to Ireland in the 19th century, and the first match played by an Ireland team was in 1855. Ireland toured Canada and the United States in the late 19th century, and occasionally hosted matches against touring side. Rivalry with the Scotland national cricket team was established when the teams first played each other in 1888. Ireland's maiden first-class match was played in 1902.

In 1993 the Irish Cricket Union, the predecessor to Cricket Ireland, was elected to the ICC as an Associate member. Associates are the next level of team below those that play Test cricket. Due to their successes in the Intercontinental Cup and at the World Cup, they have been labelled the "leading Associate"and have stated their intention to become a full member by 2020. This would allow Ireland to become a permanent One Day International playing nation and eventually grant them Test status. Ireland qualified for the Cricket World Cup for the first time in 2007, and has since played in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments. They also qualified for the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014 World Twenty20 competitions. Ireland also play international cricket in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which they have won four times since 2005, including the most recent competition in 2013.

Current Squad
The Ireland cricket team ODI, T20 Team List given below:-

ODI,T20 Captain: William Porterfield

Coach: John Bracewell

Name	Batting Style	Bowling Style
William Porterfield	Left-handed	Right-arm off-break
Kevin O'Brien	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
John Anderson	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Chris Dougherty	Left-handed	–
Ed Joyce	Left-handed	Right-arm medium
Lee Nelson	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Andrew Poynter	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
James Shannon	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Paul Stirling	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Alex Cusack	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
John Mooney	Left-handed	Right-arm medium
Eddie Richardson	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Stuart Thompson	Left-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
Andrew Balbirnie	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Niall O'Brien	Left-handed	–
Stuart Poynter	Right-handed	–
Gary Wilson	Right-handed	–
Peter Chase	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
Graeme McCarter	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Tim Murtagh	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Max Sorensen	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Craig Young	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
George Dockrell	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Andrew McBrine	Left-handed	Right-arm off-break

Ireland
ICC status	Associate (1993)
ICC region	Europe
WCL	N/A
Coach	John Bracewell
Captain	William Porterfield
First international
10 September 1855 v Gentlemen of England atDublin
World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2007)
Best result	8th (2007)
World Twenty20
Appearances	5 (first in 2009)
Best result	Super 8 (2009)
As of 3 April 2016

Coaching staff

·         Head Coach:   John Bracewell

·         Assistant Coach:  Peter Johnston

·         Bowling Coach:  Chaminda Vaas

·         Strength & Conditioning Coach:  Brendan Connor

·         Physiotherapist:  Kieran O'Reilly

·         Manager:  Chris Siddell

Governing body

The Irish Cricket Union (ICU) – the governing body of Irish cricket – was officially founded in 1923, although its predecessor had been active since 1890. In common with a number of other Ireland sporting governing bodies, the Union was formed to represent cricket throughout the island of Ireland, rather than just the Republic of Ireland. In common with its counterparts for rugby union andfield hockey, the Union therefore does not use the Irish tricolor, but instead employs its own flag, which is used by such bodies as the International Cricket Council to represent the team and in ICC tournaments, Ireland's Call is used as the national anthem.

In 2007, the ICU announced major changes to bring it in-line with the main cricket governing bodies. After the World Cup, Irish cricket experienced a dip in success with poor results in the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy as many players were unavailable. The Irish cricket team was an amateur side and most of the players had full-time jobs with commitments conflicting with cricket. Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of the ICU, has stated that it wants to "seek actively to place Irish players into top-level cricket, by developing relationships with [especially] county cricket which will incorporate appropriate player release for Irish international duty, and feeder systems for developing Irish cricketers". The reorganised ICU sought closer links with the English county teams, encourage the development of age group cricket, and to introduce a professional element into the Irish game. They also want to take the Ireland cricket team on winter tours more often.

In an attempt to prevent the game losing players to counties or other commitments such as jobs, it was suggested that central contracts should be introduced. This was done in June 2009, with the first two going to Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack. The number of full-time contracts was expanded to six in January 2010 with support for a further nine players; the contracts were split into three categories. In January 2012 the number of contracts was increased to 23, and coach Phil Simmons highlighted the process of becoming professional as an important factor in the team's success. Ireland have been an Associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1993, but their history of cricket goes back to much before  till the match against The Gentlemen of England team in 1855. They played sporadically in the following years against the likes of Scotland, USA and Canada, but in the 20th century Ireland will be remembered for beating West Indies in 1928 and 1969. The latter is considered to be a phenomenal achievement as the mighty West Indies were bowled out for 25. An equally impressive win was registered in 2004 against another formidable West Indies side, and finished second in the ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2005. As a result, they qualified for the ICC World Cup 2007. They produced one of the greatest upsets in World Cup cricket by beating Pakistan by three wickets to progress to the Super Eights at their opposition expense, and added a victory against Bangladesh to their list. They qualified for their second consecutive World Cup after winning the ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2009. While playing in the World Cup, Ireland caused one of the biggest upsets in the tournament by beating England by three wickets in a run-chase of 328 runs. Kevin O Brien (113 off 63 deliveries) struck the fastest century in World Cup history. Ireland have also qualified for four World Twenty20 tournaments as well as ICC World Cup 2015, making it three times in-a-row for them. They have One-Day International status till 2018, and with some excellent performances in the World Cups, they are strong contenders for a Test status. In 1993 the Irish Cricket Union, the predecessor to Cricket Ireland, was elected to the ICC as an Associate member. Associates are the next level of team below those that play Test cricket. Due to their successes in the Intercontinental Cup and at the World Cup, they have been labelled the "leading Associate" and have stated their intention to become a full member by 2020. This would allow Ireland to become a permanent One Day International playing nation and eventually grant them Test status. Ireland qualified for the Cricket World Cup for the first time in 2007, and has since played in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments. They also qualified for the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014 World Twenty 20 competitions. Ireland also play international cricket in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which they have won four times since 2005, including the most recent competition in 2013.

History

Cricket was introduced to Ireland by the English in the towns of Kilkenny and Ballinasloe  in the early 19th century. In the 1830s, the game began to spread; many of the clubs which were founded in the following 30 years are still in existence today. The first Irish national team played in 1855 against The Gentlemen of England in Dublin. In the 1850s, the Englishman Charles Lawrence was responsible for developing the game in Ireland through his coaching. In the 1850s and 1860s, Ireland was visited for the first time by touring professional teams. Ireland's first match against Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) was in 1858. The game gained popularity until the early 1880s. The land war in the 1880s resulting from the Irish Land Commission and a ban on playing "foreign" games, in practice, British, by the Gaelic Athletic Association set back the spread of cricket. The ban was lifted in 1970, and before then anyone playing foreign games, such as cricket was banned from the Irish games such as hurling and Gaelic football. Irish teams toured Canada and the USA in 1879, 1888, 1892, and 1909. On top of this, Ireland defeated a touring South African side in 1904.Their first match with first-class status was played on 19 May 1902 against a London County side including W.G. Grace. The Irish, captained by Sir Tim O'Brien, won convincingly by 238 runs. Cricket was introduced into Ireland by the English in the later stages of the 18th Century. The first record of a cricket match being played is in Phoenix Park in 1792 between a Colonel Lennox XI and an All Ireland team under the guidance of Major Hobart. The first native Irish club, Ballinsloe, was formed in 1825, and the majority of Irish clubs were set up in the next 50 years - among the most famous are Phoenix (1830), Waringstown (1851), Sion Mills (1864) and Cork County (1874). Ireland played its first international game in 1855 when it beat The Gentlemen of England by 107 runs, and three years later it beat the MCC by an innings and 10 runs. In 1879, Ireland drew with Surrey, its first game against a county, and in the same year embarked on a tour of the USA and Canada. In 1888, Ireland began a series of games against Scotland, and the two teams have met each other on over 100 occasions since. An embryonic Irish Cricket Union was set up in 1890, although it was 1923 before it really became representative. A new streamlined Cricket Ireland board was set up in 2008 to govern the game more effectively. Ireland became an Associate Member of the ICC in 1993, and played in its first ICC Trophy in 1994. Mike Hendrick became the first full-time Irish coach in 1995; his successors include Ken Rutherford, Adrian Birrell and Phil Simmons. A Chief Executive was appointed for the first time in 2003, and the post is currently held by Warren Deutrom.

Before 1993

After the 1902 tour of England, where four matches yielded one win, two draws and one loss, Ireland did not play first-class cricket again for five years. Although the team had lost to the South Africans in 1894 – Ireland's first match against a Test-playing nation – Ireland defeated South Africa in 1904; it was the team's first victory against a Test side. In 1909, the first annual first-class match between Ireland and Scotland was held, and an annual match against the M.C.C. was arranged from 1924 on wards. The Irish played yearly first-class matches with the Scots, only interrupted by world wars, up until 1999, but all their other cricket depended upon touring international sides finding it convenient to include a visit to Ireland in their schedules. However, Ireland sometimes surprised Test nations on these occasions, winning by 60 runs in a three-day match in Dublin over the West Indies in 1928, for example; it was Ireland's first match against the West Indies. In 1969, in a match played at Sion Mills in County Tyrone, the team defeated a West Indian side including Clive Lloyd and Clyde Walcott by nine wickets, after bowling them out for 25. This was the last time Ireland defeated a touring side until 2003, when they beat Zimbabwe by ten wickets. 

The Scots and the Irish were mostly competing with Sri Lanka for the title as the best non-Test nation at the time – indeed, Ireland drew with Sri Lanka in a rain-hit first-class match in 1979, Ireland scoring a total of 341 for 7 in two innings, while Sri Lanka made 288 for 6 in one innings. Ireland, along with Scotland and the Netherlands, has at times played in competitions for English county cricket sides, including the Benson & Hedges Cup and the Friends Provident Trophy (previously the C&G Trophy). Since there is no nationality restriction in county cricket, non-Irish were allowed to compete for Ireland in these matches. For example, Hansie Cronje of South Africa competed for Ireland in 1997, as did New Zealander Jesse Ryder in 2007.

Associate member (1993 onwards)

Ireland joined the ICC as an Associate member in 1993, a year before Scotland. This meant Ireland were able to compete in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1994 and they finished seventh in the tournament. Three years later they progressed to the semi-finals of the competition but lost the third place play-off with Scotland, thus missing a place at the 1999 cricket World Cup. Ireland finishing eighth at the 2001 the tournament. After this, Adrian Birrell was hired as coach. With the introduction of the ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, Ireland received a chance to play first-class on a regular basis. After failing to progress beyond the group stages in the 2004 competition, Ireland won their first Cup title in October 2005 with a six-wicket win over Kenya. The 2005 ICC Trophy, which was hosted in Ireland – the group stages in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the final stages in Dublin, Republic of Ireland – saw the Irish make the final where they lost to Scotland. Though Ireland were runners-up, they had secured their place at the 2007 World Cup as well as an extra $500,000 over the next four years from the ICC to encourage development of Irish cricket. They also gained official ODI.

Ireland's inaugural ODI was played in front of a full house of 7,500 spectators at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, on 13 June 2006 against England. It was the first time Ireland had played the full England side. Though Ireland lost by 38 runs, they were praised by Andrew Strauss, England's stand-in captain. August saw them participate in Division One of the European Championship, against Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Scotland. The games against the Netherlands and Scotland had ODI status. In the tournament, and what was the team's second ODI, Ireland recorded their first ODI win, beating fellow Associates Scotland by 85 runs after man-of-the-match Eoin Morgan made 99. Although the match against the Netherlands was a no-result, Ireland won the European Championship title. Ireland's second Intercontinental Cup title came in the 2006–2007 competition. They faced Canada in the final and won by an innings and 115 runs, the four-day match concluding within two days. This made Ireland the first team to successfully defend the Continental Cup.

For the 2006 season, the C&G Trophy was reorganised to include a round-robin stage instead of being entirely knock-out. Whereas Ireland had only one match guaranteed in the tournament before, they now had more fixtures against English county sides. Ireland recorded one win in their nine matches. Ireland participated in the competition until it was restructured again in 2009. In that time they played 25 matches and won two. The latter of those victories was against Worcestershire; in that match Ireland bowled Worcestershire out for 58, which was their lowest ever one-day total. It was the first time that Ireland had bowled out a county for less than a hundred.Though Ireland were invited to participate in the reformatted competition from 2010 onwards, the team chose not to and instead focused their limited financial resources on international cricket.

One Day Internationals status(2007–present)

January 2007 saw the start of more than three months of almost constant cricket. First was a visit to Kenya, where they took part in Division One of the ICC World Cricket League. They finished fifth in the league after four narrow defeats and Kenya won the league. Prior to the World Cup, the team participated in a high-performance camp in South Africa. Ireland's performance in their inaugural World Cup in the 2007 Cricket World Cup took many pundits by surprise. Their first game was on 15 March when they tied with Zimbabwe, primarily thanks to Ireland's first ever World Cup century by man-of-the-match Jeremy Bray and economical bowling in the final overs by Trent Johnston and Andre Botha. In their second match, played on Saint Patrick's Day, they beat the fourth-ranked team in the world, Pakistan, by three wickets, thus knocking Pakistan out of the competition. These two results were sufficient to advance Ireland to the Super 8 stage of the tournament. Their final group stage game was against the West Indies, where they lost by eight wickets. In the Super 8 stage, they lost their four matches against England, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Sri Lanka, but recorded a 74-run victory against the 9th ranked team in the world and Test playing nation Bangladesh. The team received a heroes welcome in Dublin.

Ireland played 17 One Day Internationals in 2010, winning 11 (including a victory over Bangladesh) and losing 6 including. Ireland were knocked out of the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, hosted by South Africa in April and May, after being beaten by the West Indies and a washed out match against England.

Aiming for Test status

In January 2012 Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom publicly declared Ireland's ambition to play Test cricket by 2020. Their desire to achieve Test status is in part to stem the tide of Irish players using residency rules to switch to England for the opportunity to play Test cricket. Deutrom outlined the ambition as he unveiled the new strategic plan for Irish cricket to 2015. The plan sets out a series of stretching goals including increasing the number of participants in the game to 50,000, setting a target of reaching 8th in the World rankings, establishing a domestic first-class cricket structure, and reinforcing cricket as the 5th major team sport in Ireland. Deutrom had already sent a letter to the ICC in 2009 stating his board's intention to apply for Full Membership – a potential pathway to Test cricket – and to seek clarification on the process. Former Australian bowler Jason Gillespie said that if Ireland got Test status it "Would be huge news in world cricket, and it would be a massive positive story for the world game". Following Ireland's victory over the West Indies in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, former fast bowler Michael Holding said that the International Cricket Council should grant Ireland Test status immediately saying "they need to be recognised now". The International Cricket Council confirmed in 2015 that Ireland will be granted Test status in 2019 should they win the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup and beat the 10th ranked test nation in a four-match test series in 2018.

International Competition

Ireland has gained a number of international scalps over the years, defeating the West Indies on no fewer than three occasions in 1928, 1969 and 2004. The 1969 win saw the mighty West Indies dismissed for just 25, as Ireland recorded a nine-wicket win. Ireland's first win over international opposition had seen South Africa beaten in 1909. In more recent times, the side won the 2009 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, defeating Canada by nine wickets, which retains its ODI status and a place in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. The 2007 World Cup competition saw Ireland tie with Zimbabwe, and then famously defeat Pakistan to qualify for the Super Eights phase, where it comfortably beat Bangladesh. Ireland has also won the Intercontinental Cup three times, beating Kenya, Canada, and Namibia. In 2009, Ireland qualified for the Super Eights phase of the ICC World Twenty20, by defeating Bangladesh, and came within four runs of defeating England in an ODI in Belfast just after England's Ashes win in the same year. Its consistent progress continued in 2010 when it once again reached the ICC World Twenty20 and won the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division One in emphatic style in the Netherlands.

In 2008, Ireland produced an unprecedented clean sweep of all European Championships from U13 through to senior level. Ireland's U19 side has competed in six World Cups, including the most recent - in New Zealand in 2010 where it managed one victory after finishing first in the qualifying competition. Ireland's most famous players include Jimmy Boucher, Dermot Monteith, Garfield Harrison, Ivan Anderson, EDR Shearer, Eddie Ingram, Alec O, Riordan, Ossie Colhoun, Stephen Warke, and in more recent times, Ed Joyce, Kyle McCallan, Eoin Morgan, Peter Gillespie, Boyd Rankin, William Porterfield, Niall and Kevin O'Brien, and Trent Johnston.

Domestic Competition

There are four separate provincial unions - Northern Cricket Union, North West Cricket Union, Leinster Cricket Union and Munster. These all play their own individual league and cup competitions from senior right down to junior level. There have been senior interprovincial games in the past, but these haven't taken place over the past few years due to fixture congestion. There are interprovincial competitions at youth level, and these are used to select national representative youth sides. The Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup is played by the senior sides from all four regions. It has taken place since 1982 - the balance of power has shifted in recent years from the northern clubs who dominated in the early years, to Leinster-based clubs in more recent times.

Development program

Ireland's success in the 2007 World Cup gave a great boost to the popularity of the sport in the country. The exposure afforded by prime time television coverage of eight games found the sport becoming a major talking point in pubs and clubs throughout Ireland. Whereas previously many wouldn't have been aware of the existence of an Irish side, that now is no longer the case. After Ireland's win over Pakistan on St Patrick's Day, cricket occupied a prominent place not just on the back pages, but also the front pages.

There has been an incredible surge in youngsters playing and participating in the sport following the World Cup. Clubs right across the country are reporting a dramatic upsurge in numbers, typically by 100-300 per cent. This increased demand has meant many clubs running special sessions and camps. This of course has led to many seeking coaching qualifications to meet this demand. In Northern Ireland, the upgrading of the two development officers posts to full-time has enabled a massive increase in the development work in the region. An extra five - ICC Introduction to Cricket - courses have been held for school leavers, college students and teachers, adding greatly to the coaching pool.

Girls' representative cricket has also re-emerged, after a number of years - absence where it was not possible to do so. Over 30 new schools have been included in the Extended Schools Programme and sessions for the visually impaired and special needs groups offered for the first time. All have been a great success and requests for further and wider ranging sessions have been received. It is a similar story in the south, where youth development officer Brian O'Rourke has coordinated a wide-ranging programme.

The Northern and Southern Sports Councils have been very supportive in the past few years, and cricket is now one of the main beneficiaries of government funding. This has seen an improvement in facilities at clubs throughout the country. One exciting project which has been completed in recent times is at Bready Cricket Club in the North West, who have built an international standard ground and indoor training centre, which has drew universal praise from all who have used it.

SHARE THIS