Four-day cricket tournament in Ireland
Inter-Provincial ChampionshipCountries | Ireland |
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Administrator | Cricket Ireland |
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Format | First-class cricket (from 2017 onwards) |
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First edition | 2013 |
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Latest edition | 2019 |
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Tournament format | Double round-robin |
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Number of teams | 3 |
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Current champion | North West Warriors |
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Most successful | Leinster Lightning (5 titles) |
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Most runs | John Anderson (472) |
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Most wickets | Max Sorensen (32) |
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Website | http://cricketireland.ie |
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2020 Inter-Provincial Championship |
The Inter-Provincial Championship is a three-day cricket tournament in Ireland, played between regional teams drawn from three of Ireland's five provincial unions. It parallels first-class cricket tournaments in other countries such as the County Championship of England and the Sheffield Shield of Australia. The tournament was held for the first time in 2013 across venues in Ireland.
Up to and including the 2016 tournament, the matches were not given first-class status. However, at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in October 2016, first-class status was awarded to all future matches, starting with the 2017 tournament.[1][2]
History
Background
The Ireland cricket team have had huge success recently on the international level which has boosted the popularity of the game in the country. They had earned the reputation of a giant killer after upsetting teams like Pakistan and Bangladesh (2007 Cricket World Cup), and England (2011 Cricket World Cup). Their good performances in major international tournaments meant that Cricket Ireland openly started bidding for Test match status to the International Cricket Council.[3] Nevertheless, one of the main stumbling road blocks for Ireland from getting to play the pinnacle of the game was a lack of a first-class cricket infrastructure at home, amongst other things. As early as August 2011, Cricket Ireland announced plans of a domestic first-class tournament.[4] In January 2012, Cricket Ireland announced the ambitious 'Vision 2020' plan which announced the establishment of a first-class structure by 2015 and achievement of Test status by 2020. It also began work on a cricket academy to find talented players across the country and improving grass-roots cricket in the country. For the first time professional contacts, with central, A, B, and C were established. Plans for Test status were established partly to stem the flow of their star cricketers moving away to England in hope of playing Test cricket such as Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin.[5][6][7][8][9][10] According to Richard Holdsworth in an interview with Setanta Sports, CI are pleased with the strategic progress that had been made as of November 2012.[11] In December 2012, Ireland got a $1.5m boost as increased funding from the ICC to establish elite domestic competitions in the country.[12]
Format
The tournament is played in a double round-robin format, with each team playing each other twice, once at home and once away.
Points summary
Points are scored as follows:
- Win – 16 points
- Draw – 3 points
- Tie – 8 points
- Batting bonus points – 1 point for scoring 150, 200, 250 and 300 runs
- Bowling bonus points – 1 points for taking 3, 5, 7 and 9 wickets
- Bonus points only apply for the first 100 overs of each team's first innings
- Over rate penalties also apply on a match by match basis for teams who fail to bowl their overs at the required rate
Teams
Three of Ireland's five cricket unions take part in the Inter-Provincial Series; Munster Cricket Union and Connacht Cricket Union do not participate.
In the six years of its existence, the competition has been dominated by Leinster Lightning, winning the first five titles, including the 2017 competition, the first one treated as a first-class competition. In 2018, North West Warriors finally broke the Leinster stranglehold, winning their first Championship. In July 2020, Danish cricketer Freddie Klokker suggested that a European XI team could play in the competition, to give more experience to European cricketers playing in the longer format of the game.[13]
Competition placings
2013 to present
All-time records
(All records correct to end of 2018 season)
Team records
Highest innings totals
Lowest completed innings totals
Highest scores in the fourth innings of the match
Individual records – batting
Most career runs
Runs | Innings | Player | Team |
674 | 14 | James McCollum | Northern Knights |
552 | 11 | James Shannon | Northern Knights |
489 | 10 | Niall O'Brien | North West Warriors |
452 | 10 | Jack Tector | Leinster Lightning |
381 | 7 | Ed Joyce | Leinster Lightning |
358 | 8 | Andrew Balbirnie | Leinster Lightning |
Highest individual scores
Score | Player | For | Opps | Venue | Date |
247* | Nick Larkin | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
131 | Craig Ervine | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 12–14 August 2014 |
113 | Andrew Poynter | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
Most runs scored in a season
Runs | Innings | Player | Team | Season |
458 | 7 | William Porterfield | North West Warriors | 2018 |
446 | 7 | James Shannon | Northern Knights | 2017 |
442 | 7 | James McCollum | Northern Knights | 2018 |
Individual records – bowling
Most career wickets
Best bowling in an innings
Bowling | Player | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
7/107 | James Cameron-Dow | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Eglinton CC | 26–28 August 2014 |
6/55 | Tabish Khan[14] | North-West Warriors | Northern Knights | Stormont | 3–5 June 2014 |
5/37 | Craig Young | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | Bready CC | 20–22 May 2014 |
5/124 | James Cameron-Dow | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
Most wickets in a season
Partnership records
Highest partnerships for each wicket
Wicket | P/Ship | Player 1 | Player 2 | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
1st | 169 | Chris Dougherty | Nick Larkin | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
2nd | 169 | Chris Dougherty | Craig Ervine | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Osborne Park | 30 July – 1 August 2013 |
3rd | 87* | Craig Ervine | Andrew White | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Stormont | 3–5 June 2014 |
4th | 192 | Craig Ervine | Andrew White | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 12–14 August 2013 |
5th | 100 | John Anderson | Kevin O'Brien | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | College Park | 25–27 June 2013 |
6th | 76 | Stuart Thompson | Andrew McBrine | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Eglinton CC | 26–28 August 2014 |
7th | 62 | Andrew McBrine | Jonathan Thompson | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | Malahide CC | 1–3 July 2014 |
8th | 104 | Andrew Poynter | Tyrone Kane | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
9th | 48* | Tyrone Kane | Max Sorensen | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
10th | 134 | Max Sorensen | Albert van der Merwe | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Malahide CC | 1–3 July 2014 |
Seasons
First Class status granted in 2017
See also
- Ireland portal
- Cricket portal
References
- ^ "Ireland domestic competition awarded first-class status". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ "Ireland's Inter-Provincial Championship awarded first-class status". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ ICC to consider Ireland's bid for Test status ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland plan first-class structure ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland unveil Test cricket vision Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine CricketEurope4.net. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ CI reveals ambitious plans aimed at receiving Test status Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland map out path to Tests ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland's Boyd Rankin retires to play Test cricket for England Cricket Country. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland calls for Test status to 'halt exodus' ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Rankin retires, Holdsworth calls for Test status Archived 12 April 2013 at archive.today irelandcricketwebbly.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Cricket Ireland happy with progress of strategic plan Archived 9 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine Setanta Sports. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ Ireland receive $1.5 m boost from ICC ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
- ^ "Denmark's Klokker calls for greater European opportunities in Irish First-Class cricket". Emerging Cricket. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ "Tabish Khan". CricX. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
External links
- Official website of Cricket Ireland
England & Wales | |
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Australia | |
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South Africa | |
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West Indies | |
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India | |
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New Zealand | |
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Pakistan | |
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Sri Lanka | |
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Zimbabwe | |
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Bangladesh | |
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Ireland | - Inter-Provincial Championship
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Afghanistan | |
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National teams | |
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Provincial bodies | |
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Interprovincial teams | |
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Interprovincials | |
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Leagues | |
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Cups | - Irish Senior Cup
- National Cup
- Ulster Cup
- Ulster Shield
- Leinster Senior League Cup
- Munster Senior Cup
- NCU Challenge Cup
- North West Senior Cup
- NCU Junior Cup
- Connacht Senior Cup
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Grounds | |
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Lists | |
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Other | |
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Inter-Provincial Championship |
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Seasons | |
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Current teams | |
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Records |