Inter-Provincial Trophy is the T20 tournament of Ireland started in the year 2013. The matches are played among the four Provincial teams of Ireland, and the matches are played across both the venues of Republic Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Ireland’s despite not being the strongest of the teams in the current generation, have a rich history of upsetting some of the strong international sides like England, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
By looking at the progress of Ireland’s cricket, the International Cricket Council had granted test status in the year 2018. The ICC had earlier funded Ireland’s domestic tournament to a large extent.
Initially, at the start of the tournament in 2013, only three provinces had participated in this tournament. In order to produce more talented Irish cricket an additional team called Munster Reds was added in the year 2017.
The teams of the Inter-Provincial Trophy are not owned by private franchisees. The teams are owned by individual provincial cricketing boards.
However, their addition didn’t improve the level of competition as the Munster Reds finished last in the points table on 3 out of 4 occasions, they have occurred so far.
Leinster Lightning are the champions of the inaugural edition which was held back in 2013. The Lightnings are also the most successful teams of the tournament as they have won 6 titles out 8 seasons played so far.
The 2019 edition turned out to be a drenched tournament as rain-gods didn’t allow any play during the entire August month (also called August festival). Only half of the tournament was possible and the other half was completely washed out due to rain and wet outfields. The tournament winner (Northern Knights) was declared on the basis of the entire season including the washed-out matches.
The Northern Knights had all won the 3 matches where the result was possible [In the matches that weren’t called off due to rain ]. However, it was unfair on the other three teams who got to play only 2 full matches with a result, while the rest all were abandoned.
The 2020 season was earlier scheduled to start from the 12th June, but due the COVID-19 Pandemic the government had restricted play of any sport until the start of June 2020.
The revised dates of the 2020 season was from 20th september to 8th october. This season too didn’t go on well as once again 6 out 12 matches were abandoned due to various reasons (Rain, Storm Fransis and COVID-19 Pandemic)
The upcoming season of Inter – Provincial Trophy is scheduled from 18th June to 19th September, 2021.
Format –
Each team plays 6 matches in the group stage and the points are awarded based on the wins. At the end of all 12 matches, the team which has topped the table is declared the winner.
Teams –
1. Leinster Lightning –
Captain – George Dockrell
Owner – Leinster Cricket Union
Home Ground – Malahide Cricket Club Ground, Malahide
Previous season – Champions
Squad – George Dockrell [C], Rory Anders, Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, JJ Garth, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Jack Tector, Tim Tector, Lorcan Tucker.
2. North West Warriors –
Captain – Andy McBrine
Owners – North West of Ireland Cricket Union
Home Ground – Bready Cricket Club GroundMunster Reds
Previous Season – finished 4th in the group-stage
Squad – Andy McBrine [C], Ross Allen, Stephen Doheny, Shane Getkate, Graham Hume, Graham Kennedy, Nathan McGuire, Conor Olphert, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Will Smale, Craig Young.
3. Northern Knights –
Captain – Gary Wilson
Owners – Cricket Leinster
Home Ground – Malahide Cricket Club Ground, Malahide
Previous Season – finished 2nd in the points table
Squad – Harry Tector [C], Mark Adair, James Cameron-Dow, David Delany, Luke Georgeson, Jeremy Lawlor, Graeme McCarter, James McCollum, Ruhan Pretorius, Neil Rock, Paul Stirling, Ben White.
4. Munster Reds
Captain – Jeremy Benton
Owners – Munster Cricket Union
Home Ground – The Mardyke, Cork
Previous Season – Finished 3rd in the points table
Squad – Jeremy Benton [C], Curtis Campher, Aaron Cawley, Murray Commins, Gareth Delany, Greg Ford, Matt Ford, Fionn Hand, Tyrone Kane, Seamus Lynch, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, PJ Moor, Amish Sidhu.
Winners Per Season –
| EDITION | WINNERS | RUNNERS-UP | YEAR |
| 1 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | 2013 |
| 2 | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | 2014 |
| 3 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | 2015 |
| 4 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | 2016 |
| 5 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | 2017 |
| 6 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | 2018 |
| 7 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | 2019 |
| 8 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | 2020 |
Top-10 Run Scorers –
Ireland national team captain Andrew Balbirnie has scored the most runs in Inter-Provincial Trophy. He has scored 463 runs at an average of 42.09 and a strike rate of 140 plus.
| PLAYERS | RUNS |
| 1. Andy Balbirnie | 463 |
| 2. Simi Singh | 389 |
| 3. Greg Thompson | 375 |
| 4. Stephen Doheny | 324 |
| 5. Gareth Delany | 316 |
| 6. James Shannon | 290 |
| 7. William Porterfield | 269 |
| 8. Shane Getkate | 267 |
| 9. Kevin O’ Brien | 265 |
| 10. David Rankin | 265 |
Top-10 Wicket-takers
Shane Getkate has taken 28 wickets so far in 17 matches becoming the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. He averaged just under 14 with a decent economy rate of 7.58.
| PLAYER | WICKETS |
| 1. Shane Getkate | 28 |
| 2. Craig Young | 24 |
| 3. Tyone Kane | 23 |
| 4. Peter Chase | 20 |
| 5. George Dockrell | 19 |
| 6. Eddie Richardson | 17 |
| 7. Yaqoob Ali | 17 |
| 8. Andy McBrine | 17 |
| 9. Jacob Mulder | 16 |
| 10. Mark Adair | 14 |