The Northern Ireland national cricket team is a representative cricket team for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. It does not play in
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...
(ICC) competitions, as Northern Ireland is part of
Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland, officially the Irish Cricket Union, is the national governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and oversees the national men's and women's cricket teams. It also org ...
and is represented by the
Ireland cricket team
The Ireland cricket team represents all of Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and organises the international team.
Ireland particip ...
. However, a standalone Northern Ireland team has been formed on a few occasions.
History
Cricket in Ireland
Cricket in Ireland is governed by Cricket Ireland, which maintains the Ireland men's and women's cricket teams. Like several other sports in Ireland, cricket is organised on an all-Ireland basis. Following the team's success in the 2007 Cricke ...
is usually organised on an
all-Ireland
All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...
basis, with the
national side representing both Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
. However, for the
cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, a Northern Ireland team took part, as the Republic is not a member of the
Commonwealth. It remains the only appearance of such a side in international cricket.
The tournament started for Northern Ireland with a match against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Northern Ireland scored 89/5 before rain brought an end to their innings in the 39th over. A target of 131 from 38 overs was set using the
Duckworth-Lewis method for South Africa, which they achieved in the 32nd over,
Dale Benkenstein
Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a former South African cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is currently first-team coach at Gloucestershire, having previously held the same role at Hampshire.
Early life
Benkenstein was born in S ...
scoring 44
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
.
Ryan Eagleson took 3/28 for the Northern Irish team.
Their second match was against
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, and Barbados scored 296/5 from their 50 overs,
Philo Wallace top scoring with 92. Northern Ireland could only score 120/7 in reply,
Stephen Smyth top scoring with 58, losing by 176 runs.
Northern Ireland picked up their only win in their third match, against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Northern Ireland batted first and were bowled out for 177, with
Kyle McCallan
William Kyle McCallan (born 27 August 1975), usually known as Kyle McCallan, is a former Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he has played more times for the Ireland cricket team than any other player, more than 40 caps ...
scoring an unbeaten 53. They then bowled out their opponents for 63 with
Gordon Cooke taking five
wickets
In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings:
* It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out.
* ...
.
Players
The following players played for Northern Ireland in their only tournament:
*
Neil Anderson
*
Neil Carson
*
Gordon Cooke
*
Dekker Curry
*
Ryan Eagleson
*
Peter Gillespie
Peter Gerard Gillespie (born 11 May 1974) is a Northern Irish former cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, he had played for the Ireland cricket team 116 times up to the start of the 2007 World Cup, including twel ...
*
Derek Heasley
*
Kyle McCallan
William Kyle McCallan (born 27 August 1975), usually known as Kyle McCallan, is a former Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he has played more times for the Ireland cricket team than any other player, more than 40 caps ...
*
Paul McCrum
*
Gary Neely
Gary Jason Neely (born 28 November 1974) is a Northern Irish cricketer. He is a right-handed tailend batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler.
He made his debut for Ireland in 1997, and has gone on to represent his country 23 times to date ...
*
Andrew Patterson
*
Alan Rutherford
*
Stephen Smyth
References
1998 Commonwealth Games cricket tournamentat CricketArchive
1998 Commonwealth Games cricket tournamentat CricketEurope
{{National sports teams of Northern Ireland
National cricket teams
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
Cricket in Northern Ireland
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...