News

After an unusually quiet year for Ireland, the next twelve months are set to be among the busiest ever for the Ireland team as they are involved in four major competitions, including the ICC Cricket World Cup and World T20 Qualifiers.

There’s little time to settle into the New Year for the fifteen players selected for the January tour to UAE, with the squad leaving this weekend to play in an ODI tri-series with Scotland and Afghanistan as all three countries prepare for the World Cup.

Ireland will play four matches in Dubai, two of which will be day/night matches, before returning home for one last week of indoor preparation before flying out to Australia at the end of the month.

Once in Australia there will be three warm up matches in Sydney before the World Cup proper starts, meaning by the time World Cup starts in mid-February, Ireland will have already played more ODI matches than in the whole of 2014.

The World Cup will see Ireland play in at least six matches in New Zealand, Tasmania and mainland Australia. The tournament is understandably set to be one of the cricketing highlights of the year, but it also marks the start of a huge summer of cricket in Ireland.

Players returning from the World Cup will barely have a chance to catch their breath before England visit in May, with Malahide once again being turned into a fortress for the match. Tickets are already selling fast as excitement grows and fans look to make sure they are part of the 10,000 who will be packed into Malahide. The day will be more than just a match, with the cricket village returning and entertainment in and around the ground throughout the day.

There will be a brief break on the international front after the England match, but the Newstalk Inter-Provincial Series will once again kick off in early May and run through to September, with the Northern Knights, North West Warriors and Leinster Lightning competing across three different formats.

There will be a break in the Inter-pro’s this year throughout July, as the World T20 Qualifiers are held between Ireland and Scotland. The tournament will see up to thirty international T20 matches taking place on the island Ireland, as well as warm up games before the tournament.

Full details and fixtures will be released by the ICC shortly, but the tournament is guaranteed to give Irish supporters a great opportunity to see Ireland play in a competitive global tournament on home soil.

As if that is not enough cricket Ireland will also begin their defence of the ICC InterContinental Cup and the ICC World Cricket League Championship. Fixtures are yet to be announced, and there is no guarantee Ireland will have home fixtures in 2015, but the two tournaments could give a rare opportunity for any sports fan to see an Ireland team defend a global title on home soil.

The domestic season, as far as international matches are concerned, will be brought to an end when Australia visit Stormont on August 27th.

All things considered, by the time winter rolls around again and the domestic season comes to an end, Ireland could have played close to 20 ODI’s and nine T20 internationals in 2015.

So if you were worried about not getting much of a chance to see Ireland play in the last year, fear not, there will be plenty of opportunity in 2015, and membership packages that to suit everyone are available now for the 2015 season!

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