DUBLIN – According to a press release by Cricket Ireland, they have launched a new structure for the men’s domestic Inter-Provincial Series that will include Munster Reds becoming the fourth team in the 50-over Cup competition, alongside creation of new performance coaching centres, a new and revised squad selection process and creation of a new emerging team competition.
The amendments will aim to create a true best v best system for Irish cricket, which will benefit the Irish Cricket on International platforms and increase top notch opportunities at this level for a wider number of players.
This will also see a future increase in investment in the Munster pathway system to help growth and opportunity for players coming through the province’s youth ranks.
The announcement focused on five key improvements:
NEW STRUCTURE : The new structure includes the four teams of North West Warriors, Northern Knights, Leinster Lightning and the Munster Reds in both formats competing in the two white-ball competitions – The 50 over Inter-Provincial Cup competition and the T20 format Inter-Provincial Trophy competition.
SELECTION OF SQUADS: The selection process for the four squads will be filtered to find a best v best outcome that will raise the bar for quality and competitiveness of the competition. As per the approved changes, the Chair of National Men’s Selectors and National Head Coach will work closely with the Provincial Union Head Coaches to select a core squad of 12 players for all the teams. Addition of local players will be done by Provincial Unions as and when they see fit. Match day squads will be selected by local Provincial Unions selectors.
INTRODUCTION OF NEW PERFORMANCE COACHING HUBS : New Provincial Union-based Performance Coaching Hubs will be established, which will replace the previous coaching process that was managed and led out of the High Performance Centre in Dublin by the national head coach. NEW EMERGING INTER-PROVINCIAL COMPETITION :To complement work being undertaken at the top-level, Cricket Ireland and the Provincial Unions have agreed on the creation of a new tournament that will be played by all four Provincial Union Emerging teams. Four province’s emerging teams will be involved in the tournament and managed under Cricket Ireland’s National Talent Pathway Manager.
STRATEGIC REFOCUS FOR MUNSTER REDS:
As the new structure will have the Munster Reds team increasing the number of their fixtures every year and entering the 50-over competition, there has been a need to improve the progress of Munster Cricket by taking several actions to develop its own talent. Therefore over the next three years, Cricket Ireland and Munster Cricket Union have agreed on the need to invest both time and resources in youth cricket, talent pathway and the Munster (Heat) emerging squad, while re-focusing the Munster Reds to meet broader needs of Irish cricket.