Ross Adair Explained

George Ross Adair (born Holywood, County Down,^{[1] [2]} 21 April 1994) is an Irish cricketer and former rugby union player.

He plays for the Northern Knights in domestic cricket.^[3]

His younger brother, Mark Adair, is also a cricketer, who has played for Ireland in all formats.^{[4] [5]}

Cricket career

He made his Twenty20 debut for the Northern Knights in the 2020 Inter-Provincial Trophy on 20 August 2020.^[6] He made his List A debut on 30 June 2021, for Northern Knights in the 2021 Inter-Provincial Cup.^[7]

In December 2022, he earned his maiden call-up to the Ireland cricket team for their T20I series against Zimbabwe.^[8] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Ireland, on 12 January 2023 in the first T20I match.^[9]

In May 2024, he was named in Ireland’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.^[10]

Adair would hit his maiden T20I century on 29 September 2024 against South Africa in the 2nd T20I of their series in Abu Dhabi. He would finish on exactly 100 (58) and hit nine 6s along the way^[11] He was just the third Irish man to achieve the feat and fifth Irish cricketer overall alongside Kevin O'Brien, Paul Stirling, Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis.

Rugby career

Adair played schools rugby for Sullivan Upper School, impressing in the Ulster Schools' Cup in 2011.^[12] He played for the Ulster Ravens in the British and Irish Cup,^[13] and made one senior appearance for Ulster in the Pro12, scoring a try against Dragons in 2015.^[14]

He played for Jersey Reds in the RFU Championship for two and a half years, making more than 40 appearances before a degenerative hip condition ended his professional career. Following two operations, he returned to rugby at an amateur level with Ballynahinch RFC,^[15] with whom he won the Ulster Senior League in 2019,^[16] and was named Club Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby awards.^[17]

Notes and References

1. https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2015/04/14/rugby-meet-jerseys-four-new-players/ "Rugby: Meet Jersey’s four new players"
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/20762701 Cricket: Ireland squad
3. News: Explosive Ross Adair hoping for Knights start . 30 June 2021 . Belfast Telegraph. 30 June 2021 .
4. Web site: Ross Adair . 20 August 2020 . ESPN Cricinfo.
5. Web site: Ross Adair delighted at Knights call-up . Cricket Europe . 20 August 2020.
6. Web site: 1st Match, Bready, Aug 20 2020, Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy . 20 August 2020 . ESPN Cricinfo.
7. Web site: 12th Match, Belfast, Jun 30 2021, Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Limited Over Cup . ESPN Cricinfo . 30 June 2021.
8. Web site: Ross Adair: Ex-Ulster rugby player brought into Ireland squad . BBC . 20 December 2022 . 20 December 2022.
9. Web site: 1st T20I, Harare, January 12, 2023, Ireland tour of Zimbabwe . 2023-01-12 . ESPNcricinfo. 12 January 2023 .
10. Web site: Ireland's 15-Player Squad for ICC Men's T20I World Cup . 2024-06-11 . ScoreWaves . en.
11. Web site: Adair brothers star as Ireland level series . 2024-09-30 . ESPNcricinfo . en.
12. He went on to earn two International caps for Ireland at U19 level.

    "The Front Row Union Awards 2011", The Front Row Union, 5 September 2011

13. https://www.thefrontrowunion.com/2013/12/ravens-wallace-returns-for-ayr-battle/ "Ravens: Wallace Returns for Ayr Battle!"
14. https://ulster.rugby/content/dragons-26-ulster-22 "Dragons 26 Ulster 22"
15. Liam Heagney, "'The pain was almost like a ripping across my abdomen. I'd no idea what was going on'", Rugby Pass, 28 January 2019
16. Ian Callender, "So near yet so far for Ross Adair", Sunday Life, 10 June 2019
17. Darren Fullerton, "2019 Ulster Rugby Awards: Retiring captain Rory Best is named Heineken Personality of the Year", Belfast Live, 9 May 2019