Inter-Provincial Cup

The Inter-Provincial Cup is a limited-overs cricket tournament in Ireland between the three leading cricketing provinces of Ireland. The tournament was held for the first time in 2013 across venues in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Up to and including the 2016 tournament, the matches were not given List A status. However, at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in October 2016, List A status was awarded to all future matches.[1][2]

Inter-Provincial Cup

Countries	Ireland
Administrator	Cricket Ireland
Format	List A (from 2017 onwards)
First edition	2013
Tournament format	Double round-robin
Number of teams	3
Current champion	Leinster Lightning (7th title)
Most successful	Leinster Lightning (7 titles)
Most runs	Kevin O'Brien (353)
Most wickets	Albert van der Merwe (11)
2020 Inter-Provincial Cup
Website	Cricket Ireland

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, among 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 - 4 points
• Tie or no result - 2 points
• Loss - 0 points
• Bonus point - 1 point awarded to a team winning a match with a run rate equal to 1.25 times that of the losing team

Teams

According to Richard Holdsworth's interview to Setanta Sports, three teams would initially participate in the tournament, Leinster cricket team, Northern cricket team and North West cricket team as Munster and Connacht were considered still quite far away from fielding a competitive team for provincial tournaments. They were also given a separate limited overs names much similar to the systems in England and Australia, i.e., like Nottinghamshire Outlaws and South Australia Redbacks. In this case, the names are Leinster Lightning, Northern Knights and North West Warriors.[13][14]

Team	First season	Titles	2019 position
Leinster Lightning	2013	6	First
Northern Knights	2013	1	Second
North West Warriors	2013	0	Third

Competition placings

2013 to present

Season	Winner	Second	Third
2013	Northern Knights	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors
2014	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	North West Warriors
2015	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	North West Warriors
2016	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	North West Warriors
2017	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	Northern Knights
2018	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	Northern Knights
2019	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	North West Warriors

All-time records

(All records correct to end of 2014 season)

Highest innings totals

Score	Team	Opps	Venue	Date
285/4 (50)	North West Warriors	Leinster Lightning	The Hills CC	3 May 2014
272/6 (50)	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	Malahide CC	1 June 2013
260/8 (50)	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	The Hills CC	6 May 2013
259/7 (50)	Northern Knights	Leinster Lightning	The Hills CC	6 May 2013
254/7 (38)	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	The Hills CC	3 May 2014
254/9 (50)	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	Waringstown CC	14 September 2014

Lowest completed innings totals

Score	Team	Opps	Venue	Date
120 ao	North West Warriors	Northern Knights	Coleraine CC	26 May 2014
123 ao	North West Warriors	Leinster Lightning	Malahide CC	1 June 2013

Most career runs

Runs	Innings	Player	Team
353	5	Kevin O'Brien	Leinster Lightning
277	8	John Anderson	Leinster Lightning
238	7	Lee Nelson	Northern Knights
229	7	Andrew Balbirnie	Leinster Lightning

Highest individual scores

Score	Player	For	Opps	Venue	Date
124*	Andrew Poynter	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	Waringstown CC	14 September 2013
111*	Kevin O'Brien	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	The Hills CC	6 May 2013
103*	Andrew Balbirnie	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	The Hills CC	3 May 2014

Most runs scored in a season

Runs	Innings	Player	Team	Season
221	3	Kevin O'Brien	Leinster Lightning	2013
206	4	Andrew Balbirnie	Leinster Lightning	2014

Most career wickets

Wickets	Matches	Player	Team
11	7	Albert van der Merwe	Leinster Lightning
9	5	David Simpson	Northern Knights
9	7	Andrew McBrine	North West Warriors

Best bowling in an innings

Bowling	Player	Team	Opps	Venue	Date
10-1-31-4	Andrew Riddles	North West Warriors	Leinster Lightning	Strabane CC	21 September 2013
10-0-31-4	Tyrone Kane	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	Leinster CC	20 September 2014

Most wickets in a season

Wickets	Average	Player	Team	Season
7	23.43	Max Sorensen	Leinster Lightning	2013
6	15.00	Albert van der Merwe	Leinster Lightning	2014

Highest partnerships for each wicket

Wicket	P/Ship	Player 1	Player 2	Team	Opps	Venue	Date
1st	118	Ben Ackland	John Anderson	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	Malahide CC	1 June 2013
2nd	80	Jason Milligan	Niall McDonnell	North West Warriors	Leinster Lightning	The Hills CC	3 May 2014
3rd	59	Nick Larkin	James Shannon	Northern Knights	Leinster Lightning	Waringstown CC	10 August 2013
4th	118	John Anderson	John Mooney	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	Leinster CC	20 September 2014
5th	187	Andrew Balbirnie	Kevin O'Brien	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	The Hills CC	3 May 2014
6th	79	Andrew White	Adam Dennison	Northern Knights	Leinster Lightning	Leinster CC	20 September 2014
7th	82	Iftikhar Hussain/David Rankin	Andrew Riddles	North West Warriors	Leinster Lightning	Strabane CC	21 September 2013
8th	91	Jonathan Thompson	Ricky-Lee Dougherty	North West Warriors	Northern Knights	North Down CC	15 July 2013
9th	71*	Kevin O'Brien	Fintan McAllister	Leinster Lightning	North West Warriors	The Hills CC	6 May 2013
10th	31*	Andrew Poynter	Yaqoob Ali	Leinster Lightning	Northern Knights	Waringstown CC	14 September 2014

Seasons

• 2013 Inter-Provincial Cup
• 2014 Inter-Provincial Cup

See also

• Cricket in Ireland
• History of cricket
• Inter-Provincial Championship
• Inter-Provincial Trophy

References

1. "Ireland domestic competition awarded first-class status". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
2. "Ireland's Inter-Provincial Championship awarded first-class status". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
3. ICC to consider Ireland's bid for Test status ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2013
4. Ireland plan first-class structure ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
5. Ireland unveil Test cricket vision CricketEurope4.net. Retrieved 9 March 2013
6. CI reveals ambitious plans aimed at receiving Test status Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 March 2013
7. Ireland map out path to Tests ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
8. Ireland's Boyd Rankin retires to play Test cricket for England Cricket Country. Retrieved 9 March 2013
9. Ireland calls for Test status to 'halt exodus' ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
10. Rankin retires, Holdsworth calls for Test status Archived 12 April 2013 at Archive.today irelandcricketwebbly.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013
11. Cricket Ireland happy with progress of strategic plan Archived 9 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine Setanta Sports. Retrieved 9 March 2013
12. Ireland receive $1.5 m boost from ICC ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2013
13. North-West announce shortlist for name Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 9 March 2013
14. NCU confirm team name for 2013 Interpros Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 9 March 2013

External links

• -official website