T20 cricket tournament in Ireland
The
Inter-Provincial Trophy
is a
Twenty20 cricket
tournament between the four leading cricketing provinces of
Ireland
.
The tournament was first held by three provinces in 2013, across venues in both
Northern Ireland
and the
Republic of Ireland
.
Northern Knights
are the current reigning champions, while
Leinster Lightning
are the most successful team in the competition's history, winning seven titles.
History
[
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]
Background
[
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]
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
.
[1]
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, among other things. As early as August 2011, Cricket Ireland announced plans of a domestic first-class tournament.
[2]
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
.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
According to Richard Holdsworth in an interview with
Setanta Sports
, CI were pleased with the strategic progress that had been made as of November 2012.
[9]
In December 2012, Ireland got a $1.5m boost as increased funding from the ICC to establish elite domestic competitions in the country.
[10]
Initially the tournament did not hold
List-A
T20 status, however this was granted by the
ICC
starting for the
2017
season.
[11]
A fourth province,
Munster Reds
was added in 2017.
Format
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]
The tournament is held as a double round-robin format with each team playing each other twice, once at its home ground and the other leg away.
Teams
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]
According to Richard Holsworth's interview to Setanta Sports, three teams would initially participate in the tournament,
Leinster
,
Northern
and
North West
, representing the three historically strongest provincial unions in Irish cricket, as
Munster
and Connacht Unions were considered still quite far away from fielding a competitive team for provincial tournaments.
They were also given a separate limited overs brands or names familiar to supporters of the systems in England and Australia,
Leinster Lightning
,
Northern Knights
and
North West Warriors
.
[12]
[13]
Munster
were added for the 2017 season, choosing to play under the name
Munster Reds
.
[14]
Competition placings
[
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]
2013 to present
[
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]
Results of each season are here:
[15]
All-time records
[
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]
(Correct to 6 March 2024)
Team records
[
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]
Highest innings totals
[
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]
Lowest completed innings totals
[
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]
Individual records ? batting
[
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]
Most career runs
[
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]
Highest individual scores
[
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Individual records ? bowling
[
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Most career wickets
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Best bowling in an innings
[
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]
Partnership records
[
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]
Highest partnerships
[
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]
Highest partnerships for each wicket
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References and notes
[
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]
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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
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Grounds
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Lists
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Other
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Current
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Oceania
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Europe
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Africa
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Americas
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Defunct
| International
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Asia
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Oceania
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Europe
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Africa
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Americas
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