Irish cricket

Cricket in Ireland is a long-established sport. It is governed by Cricket Ireland, which maintains the Ireland men's and women's cricket teams. Like several other sports, cricket in Ireland is organised on an all-Ireland basis. Following the team's success in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the sport's popularity increased in Ireland. The country is an associate member of the International Cricket Council and plays in tournaments like the World Cricket League and ICC Intercontinental Cup, which are qualifying rounds for associate teams for the Cricket World Cup and ICC World Twenty20. Ireland qualified for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 ICC World Twenty20. In the 2011 World Cup, they beat England in the group matches.

In 2017 domestic cricket in Ireland was recognised as first-class cricket for the first time. In recognition of their progress as a cricketing nation, Ireland were granted Test status as well in 2017.

"The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity" – George Bernard Shaw

Cricket was introduced to Ireland by the British, probably during the 18th century, and the earliest known reference is a 1792 match in Dublin between the British garrison and an "All-Ireland" team, the garrison team winning by an innings.

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