DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland on Monday launched a new Emerging Talent competition – the Cricket Ireland Future Series to supplement the men’s Inter-Provincial Series. The competition will strengthen the talent pathway and offer competitive cricket to the next generation of players with senior inter-provincial and international aspirations.
The inaugural Cricket Ireland Future Series will commence on 28 June 2021 and include five teams – one from each of the four Provincial Unions and an Ireland Under-19s side. The competition will mainly (but not exclusively) feature cricketers under 25 years of age.
The series will have 20 matches, with every team playing eight matches each– four 45-over matches and four T20 matches. Each team will contest the other teams once in each format.
Albert van der Merwe, National Talent Pathway Manager, said: “The Cricket Ireland Future Series is a very exciting venture and gives us a real chance to focus on the development of players at an age where we believe we can make a real difference. We have designed the competition to provide a substantive opportunity for each Provincial Union to plan, identify and expose their next generation of players to high quality, competitive cricket in an effort to make our domestic game even stronger.”
“I see the new competition as a key component in the Cricket Ireland pathway in terms of player development and identification. For the last few years we have played ad hoc, bilateral fixtures – and whilst there was value from these, the new competition creates a formal structure around matches for players aspiring to play senior inter-provincial cricket over the next number of years.”
Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said: “The Cricket Ireland Future Series is a big step forward in creating a formalised talent pathway competition, and will be of great benefit to succession planning at both provincial and national levels. We will use the competition to track players’ development and measure the depth coming through each province. The inclusion of the Ireland Under-19s team will also work as an opportunity to pit our youth players against stronger opposition, and act as an opportunity to show provincial and national selectors their skills and abilities, as well as prepare them for the ICC Under-19s World Cup Qualifier.”
“Albie and the provincial coaches have undertaken stellar work on pulling this competition together, and with a dedicated new brand it gives the Future Series a sense of identity. I look forward to seeing our most talented young players competing in the Series and giving an opportunity for those players to shine on a national stage.”
