Cricket in Ireland is something of a minority sport, and all players are amateurs, but the game is showing signs of development. Cricket is now getting more and more popular thanks to Ireland's successful Cricket World Cup campaign in 2007. It has been played in Ireland since the early 19th century.
History
The English brought cricket to Ireland. The game was introduced to the Garrison towns of Kilkenny and Ballinasloe in the early 1800s. The spread began in the 1830s and many clubs, still in existence today, were founded in the next 30 years.
The first Irish National team took the field in 1855 long before any Test Match was ever played. The match was -v- The Gentlemen of England in Dublin.
Charles Lawrence, an Englishman, was in Dublin playing, coaching and developing the game in Ireland in the 1850s. He went to Australia with H.H. Stevenson's team in 1861 and stayed to coach the ever growing numbers playing there.
The touring professional teams all came to Ireland in the 1850s and 1860s. The first match -v- M.C.C. was in 1858.
The spread of cricket continued until the early 1880s. Two events then became retarding factors. The first was the outbreak of land wars when Landlord and Tenant were alienated. the second was a ban placed on the playing of foreign games by the Gaelic Athletic Association who are the guardians of the native Irish games of Hurling and Gaelic football, this ban was not lifted until 1970. If a player played the extremely popular Irish games he could not play the foreign games. If he did he would be banned from the Irish games. [1]
The sport is organised on an all-Ireland basis and was overseen by the Irish Cricket Union, founded in its present incarnation in 1923.
Due to political difficulties, the Irish Cricket Union was not elected to the International Cricket Council until 1993 when they became an Associate Member.
The Irish Cricket Union was formally dissolved on 3rd February 2008 at its annual general meeting. A new board with 11 members will run cricket in Ireland and encourage "increasing professionalism that is needed in modern sport".[2]
English county competition
Ireland Compete against Essex at Castle Avenue
Ireland, along with Scotland, has at times played in competitions for English county cricket sides, including the Benson & Hedges Cup and the Friends Provident Trophy. Since there is no nationality restriction in county cricket, non-Irish players have competed for Ireland in these matches. Hansie Cronje of South Africa competed for Ireland in the 1997 Benson & Hedges Cup, thanks to sponsorship from Irish industrialist Tony O'Reilly.
In 2006 Ireland took part in a newly expanded C&G Trophy, playing nine English county sides. For this tournament, they were bolstered by the signings of Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi, the two overseas players they are allowed when competing in English domestic competitions. Ireland recorded one win (at Bristol against Gloucestershire)in their 9 matches, though they lost the remainder.
In 2007, Ireland played in the Friends Provident Trophy against nine English county sides. Of those nine matches, they lost six and the remaining three matches were abandoned due to rain.
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