Inter-Provincial Championship
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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 First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
tournaments in other countries such as the
County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
of England and the
Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...
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 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) meeting in October 2016, first-class status was awarded to all future matches, starting with the 2017 tournament.


History


Background

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 ...
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 Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and
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 ...
(
2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...
), and
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(
2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, ...
). Their good performances in major international tournaments meant that
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 ...
openly started bidding for Test match status to the
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 ' ...
. 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. 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 Edmund "Ed" Christopher Joyce (born 22 September 1978) is a former Irish cricketer who played for both the Ireland and England national cricket teams. After beginning his career with Middlesex, he moved to Sussex in 2009, before returning to Ir ...
, Eoin Morgan and
Boyd Rankin William Boyd Rankin (born 5 July 1984) is a Northern Irish former cricketer who played international cricket for Ireland, and briefly also played for England. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is the brother of fellow cricketer David Ran ...
. According to Richard Holdsworth in an interview with
Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...
, CI are pleased with the strategic progress that had been made as of November 2012. In December 2012, Ireland got a $1.5m boost as increased funding from the ICC to establish elite domestic competitions in the country.


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 – 16 points * Draw – 3 points * Tie – 8 points * Batting bonus points – 1 point for scoring 150, 200, 250 and 300 runs * Bowling bonus points – 1 points for taking 3, 5, 7 and 9 wickets * Bonus points only apply for the first 100 overs of each team's first innings * Over rate penalties also apply on a match by match basis for teams who fail to bowl their overs at the required rate


Teams

Three of Ireland's five cricket unions take part in the Inter-Provincial Series;
Munster Cricket Union The Munster Cricket Union is one of five provincial governing bodies for cricket in Ireland. Along with the Connacht, Northern, Leinster and North West unions, it makes up the Irish Cricket Union (now known as Cricket Ireland), the supreme gove ...
and
Connacht Cricket Union The Connacht Cricket Union is one of the five provincial governing bodies for cricket in Ireland. Along with the Leinster Cricket Union, Munster Cricket Union, Northern Cricket Union and North West Cricket Union, it makes up Cricket Ireland (form ...
do not participate. In the six years of its existence, the competition has been dominated by
Leinster Lightning Leinster Lightning is one of three provincial cricket teams in Ireland. Along with the North West Warriors and Northern Knights it makes up the Inter-Provincial Championship, Interprovincial One-Day Trophy and Interprovincial Twenty20 Cup. T ...
, winning the first five titles, including the 2017 competition, the first one treated as a first-class competition. In 2018,
North West Warriors North West Warriors is one of four provincial cricket teams in Ireland. Along with the Leinster Lightning, Northern Knights and Munster Reds, it makes up the Inter-Provincial Championship, Inter-Provincial Cup & Inter-Provincial Trophy. The te ...
finally broke the Leinster stranglehold, winning their first Championship. In July 2020, Danish cricketer
Freddie Klokker Frederik Andreas Klokker (born 13 March 1983) is a Danish cricketer. Klokker is a left-handed batsman who fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born at Odense, Funen County. In August 2021, he made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for the Da ...
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.


Competition placings


2013 to present


All-time records

(All records correct to end of 2018 season)


Team records


Highest innings totals

*First Class cricket only


Lowest completed innings totals


Highest scores in the fourth innings of the match


Individual records – batting


Most career runs

*First Class cricket only


Highest individual scores


Most runs scored in a season

* First Class cricket only


Individual records – bowling


Most career wickets

*First Class cricket only


Best bowling in an innings


Most wickets in a season

*First Class cricket only


Partnership records


Highest partnerships for each wicket


Seasons

* 2013 Inter-Provincial Championship * 2014 Inter-Provincial Championship * 2015 Inter-Provincial Championship * 2016 Inter-Provincial Championship First Class status granted in 2017 * 2017 Inter-Provincial Championship *
2018 Inter-Provincial Championship The 2018 Inter-Provincial Championship was the sixth edition of the Inter-Provincial Championship, a first-class cricket competition played in Ireland. It was held from 1 May to 6 September 2018. It was the second edition of the competition to b ...
* 2019 Inter-Provincial Championship


See also

*
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 ...
*
History of cricket The sport of cricket has a known history beginning in the late 16th century. Having originated in south-east England, it became an established sport in the country in the 18th century and developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries. Inte ...
*
Inter-Provincial Cup The Inter-Provincial Cup is a limited-overs cricket tournament in Ireland between the four 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 Ir ...
*
Inter-Provincial Trophy 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. ...
* Inter-Provincial T20 Festival


References


External links



official website {{Interprovincials Inter-Provincial Championship, Irish domestic cricket competitions First-class cricket competitions