| Inter-Provincial Championship | |
| Administrator: | Cricket Ireland |
| Cricket Format: | First-class cricket (from 2017 onwards) |
| First: | 2013 |
| Last: | 2019 |
| Tournament Format: | Double round-robin |
| Participants: | 3 |
| Champions: | North West Warriors |
| Most Successful: | Leinster Lightning (5 titles) |
| Most Runs: | John Anderson (472) |
| Most Wickets: | Max Sorensen (32) |
| Website: | http://cricketireland.ie |
| Current: | 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]
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]
The tournament is played in a double round-robin format, with each team playing each other twice, once at home and once away.
Points are scored as follows:
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]
| width=175 | Team | width=175 | First season | width=175 | Titles | width=175 | First-class titles | width=175 | Most recent 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leinster Lightning | 6 | 2 | 1st | ||||||
| North West Warriors | 1 | 1 | 3rd | ||||||
| Northern Knights | 0 | 0 | 2nd |
| Season | Winner | Second | Third | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North West Warriors | ||||
| North West Warriors | ||||
| Northern Knights | ||||
| North West Warriors | ||||
| Northern Knights | ||||
| North West Warriors | ||||
| Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | ||||
| 2023 | Not held | |||
(All records correct to end of 2018 season)
| Score | Team | Opps | Venue | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2018 | |||||
| 460/9 | Bready CC | 20 June 2018 | |||
| 448/7 | 4 September 2018 | ||||
| 446 | Comber Cricket Ground | 2 July 2018 | |||
| 4 September 2018 |
| Score | Team | Opps | Venue | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 105 | 20–22 May 2014 | ||||
| 116 | 4–6 June 2013 | ||||
| 119 | 26–28 August 2014 | ||||
| 123 | 25–27 June 2013 |
| Score | Team | Opps | Venue | Date | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 227 | 1–3 July 2014 | Lost by 65 runs | ||||
| 224 | 26–28 August 2014 | Lost by 44 runs | ||||
| 176 | 17–19 June 2014 | Lost by 157 runs | ||||
| 160/7 | 4–6 June 2013 | Won by 3 wickets | ||||
| 157/2 | 3–5 June 2014 | Won by 8 wickets |
| Runs | Innings | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 674 | 14 | Northern Knights | |
| 552 | 11 | Northern Knights | |
| 489 | 10 | North West Warriors | |
| 452 | 10 | Leinster Lightning | |
| 381 | 7 | Leinster Lightning | |
| 358 | 8 | Leinster Lightning | |
| Score | Player | For | Opps | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 247* | Nick Larkin | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 |
| 131 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 12–14 August 2014 | |
| 113 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 | |
| Runs | Innings | Player | Team | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 458 | 7 | North West Warriors | 2018 | ||
| 446 | 7 | Northern Knights | 2017 | ||
| 442 | 7 | Northern Knights | 2018 |
| Wickets | Matches | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 8 | North West Warriors | |
| 30 | 7 | Leinster Lightning | |
| 30 | 7 | North West Warriors | |
| 24 | 7 | Leinster Lightning | |
| 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 | 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 |
| Wickets | Average | Player | Team | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 13.09 | Leinster Lightning | 2017 | |
| 19 | 19.68 | North West Warriors | 2018 | |
| 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 | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Osborne Park | 30 July – 1 August 2013 | |
| 3rd | 87* | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Stormont | 3–5 June 2014 | ||
| 4th | 192 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Waringstown CC | 12–14 August 2013 | ||
| 5th | 100 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | College Park | 25–27 June 2013 | ||
| 6th | 76 | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Eglinton CC | 26–28 August 2014 | ||
| 7th | 62 | Jonathan Thompson | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | Malahide CC | 1–3 July 2014 | |
| 8th | 104 | Tyrone Kane | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 | |
| 9th | 48* | Tyrone Kane | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Waringstown CC | 27–29 August 2013 | |
| 10th | 134 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Malahide CC | 1–3 July 2014 | ||
First Class status granted in 2017