Cricket has existed for close to five centuries, but the sport we love to play and watch came into being in the middle of the 1700s. When people think popular sports in Ireland they will likely think of football and Gaelic football, but cricket in Ireland is extremely popular now, and there are thousands of cricket fans across the country that love to watch and bet on this entertaining game. In this review, we shall take a brief glimpse into cricket in Ireland history, take a look at Irish cricket players who are considered to be the best, as well as some of the best cricket betting sites for Irish.
Cricket in Ireland
Most people are quite shocked when they learn that cricket used to the Ireland’s most popular sport. Although the game used to be played on rich landowners’ properties in the 1850s, it was still seen by many as a game for the people.
Nowadays, you will find over fifty thousand Irish cricket fans enjoying cricket at clubs, universities, and schools throughout the island. To provide some context as to the increase in popularity, in 2007, the year Ireland stunned Pakistan at the ICC World Cup, the figure stood at around fifteen thousand. Cricket Ireland, which is the organization responsible for cricket in Ireland now has five provincial teams to take charge of and they are looking to try and make the sport even more popular and increase the number of youths that play.
In 2019, it was estimated that thirty thousand Irish children got into the game of cricket thanks to a cricket school program developed by Cricket Ireland.
A Look at the History of Cricket in Ireland
Cricket arrived on Irish shores back in the 19th century when the British Empire arrived to start their colonization process. Britain’s large Empire is the sole reason why cricket is a sport that is now popular in many different countries across the globe.
It was the 1830s when cricket in Ireland began to spread across the country and some clubs were formed that are still in existence today. You will now be able to find thirty-two Irish cricket clubs in Ireland, and it is likely that this figure will grow in the near future. The first Irish cricket national team popped up in 1855, and they played their first game against an English team in Dublin. Irish cricket played their first professional game in 1858 when they took on the Marylebone Cricket Club.
The popularity of cricket continued to increase, and in the 1880s the Irish government declared that playing sports that were not Irish was now prohibited. However, there were plenty of Irish cricket players that decided to ignore this new rule and played anyway. An Irish team was sent on a tour of Canada and the United States 88, 92, and 1909. It was in 1904 where they picked up their very first win against a South African team.
The foreign sports ban was lifted in 1970, and twenty-three years later Ireland was added to the ICC’s Associate Members list, meaning that they could not take part in the ICC Trophy. In their first ICC Trophy, they finished in 7th, but they went on to perform a lot better in the following one, and just failed to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in 1999. At the 2005 tournament, they came second, meaning that an Irish cricket team would be participating at the World Cup in 2007.
As we mentioned above, they had a shocking win against Pakistan and this win saw them qualify for the next stage of the tournament, where they went on to beat Bangladesh. They then qualified for the next World Cup in 2011, and it was here where they managed to beat England and shock the cricketing world. This amazing win was the reason Irish cricket was given ODI status and were allowed to start playing more regularly against the big boys.
They were given Full Member status back in 2017 thanks to their ODI improvement, which meant they were allowed to take part in Test cricket. They last played a Test match versus England at Lord’s, and even though they went on to lose, they gave a good account of themselves and made England sweat a bit at times.
Ireland's Best Cricketers
Over the years, Ireland have managed to produce some very good cricketers. The captain of England, Eoin Morgan, is actually Irish and he helped England to become World Champions in 2019. Below we shall take a look at three of the best players that are currently playing for the Men in Green.
Kevin O'Brien
O’Brien will forever be remembered as the cricketer that demolished England’s bowlers during the group game at the World Cup in 2011. He scored a majestic century from just 50 balls – this was actually the fast century scored at a World Cup. He is also the first Irishman to hit a century in Test cricket and the first man to play for his country 300 times. To add to all of the above, he also happens to be the first Irishman to collect 100 wickets.
Over the course of his career, he has earned 152 caps for his country and has hit 3619 runs with an average of 29.66. He also has 114 ODI wickets to his name at an average of 32.68. He has participated in 96 T20 matches for his country and has scored 1,672 runs with a 21.16 average and has 58 wickets with a 19.55 average.
William Porterfield
Porterfield has been a mainstay in Ireland’s nations team from 2006 and he has had the honor of captaining the Men in Green from the U13s and up. He has the distinction of being the first Irish cricketer to go past 1,000 T20 runs, as well as being the first one to captain Ireland’s Test cricket team. He was the captain of the team that shocked England at the World Cup in 2011. He has also managed to play over 300 games for Ireland.
He has played 139 ODI games for his country, scoring 4,091 runs with a 30.75 average. In the T20 format, he has hit 1079 runs with a 20.35 average from the 61 matches he has played.
Paul Stirling
Many cricket fans believe that Stirling is one of the best cricketers to ever play for Ireland, and in 2020 he was made the vice-captain of the team. In the summer of 2019, when playing an ODI versus Zimbabwe, he became the first player to score 4,000 runs for Ireland. As well as being a destructive opener, he also chips in with some crucial wickets from time to time.
Overall, he has hit 4,697 ODI runs in the 125 matches he has played for his country, with an average of 39.47. He has 43 wickets to his name in these matches, with a 44.25 average – he also holds the best bowling figures for his country, having collected 6⁄55 versus Afghanistan in 2017. In his 78 T20 games for Ireland, he has hit 2,124 runs with a 29.91 average and has collected 17 wickets with an average of 36.17.
Boyd Rankin
Rankin is a bowler that has caused batmen plenty of trouble down the years and this is because his height gives him a unique bouncing action. Ranking played his first game for Ireland in 2007, but he changed allegiance to England in 2013. However, things did not go as planned and he returned to the Irish national team. Many Irish fans would have been happy if he was turned away, but Ireland are not blessed with a lot of depth, so accepted him back.
He has participated in 75 ODI games for the Men in Green and has picked up 106 wickets with a 27.87 average. He has played in 50 T20 games and has picked up 55 wickets with an average of 22.16.
International Cricket Stadiums in Ireland
There are a number of cricket venues around the Emerald Isle, but only four have ever been used to stage international cricket. We are now going to have a look at these venues.
The Village, Malahide
This is where Malahide Cricket Club ply their trade and it is the biggest stadium in Ireland, with an 11,500 capacity. The first international game played here was against England in 2013 – the visitors went on to win the game by 6 wickets, with Eoin Morgan smashing 124 not out on the wicket that he grew up playing on. Over the years, 12 ODI centuries have been hit at this ground, and it has the honour of being the stadium where Ireland’s very first test match was played.
Castle Avenue Cricket Ground, Dublin
This stadium is located near Clontarf Castle and it hosted its first cricket game more than six decades ago. It is a small stadium as it can fit just 3,200 fans and it was surprisingly used for a cricket match between Bangladesh and the West Indies during the World Cup of 1999. Ireland’s first ODI game at this venue was in 2007 against the West Indies. It also hosted some matches for the ICC Twenty20 Qualifiers in 2015. At the time of writing, there has been 8 centuries hit at this venue.
Stormont, Belfast
Stormont is the ground that the Civil Service North of Ireland Cricket Club call home and this ground can fit about 6,000 fans. It was built in 1949, and hosted Ireland’s first ODI game, which was in 2006 against England. India and South Africa enjoyed an ODI series here in 2007, while it played host to the World Twenty20 qualifiers in 2008. There have been 7 international centuries hit here down the years.
Bready Cricket Club Ground, Magheramason
This ground is the home of Bready Cricket Club and it can hold 3,000 cricket fans. Ireland’s first international match here was against Scotland in 2015. It was chosen to host some games during the World Twenty20 qualifiers too. The first ODI at the venue was played in July 2019 when the Irish took on Zimbabwe. To date, two international hundreds have been scored here.
The Tournaments Played in Ireland
Inter-Provincial ChampionshipThis three-day event is played between Leinster Lightning, North West Warriors, and the Northern Knights. The format is similar to other first-class cricket events such as England’s County Championship or Australia’s Sheffield Shield. The tournament was first played in 2013 and takes part in different grounds throughout the country.
His competition now takes place every year, but it was in 2017 that the games were awarded first-class status. The teams play twice against each other and the team that has earned the most points when a; 6 games have been played will be crowned as champions. When it comes down to the number of titles. Leinster Lightning are way out on top with 6 titles, while North West Warriors have managed to win it once.
Inter-Provincial Trophy
This is a fun T20 competition that four provinces take part in. The event was held for the first time in 2013 in stadiums across Northern and the Republic of Ireland. The participants in this tournament are the Northern Knights, North West Warriors, Munster Reds, and Leinster Lightning. Each team has two games against each other, and when all 8 matches have been played, whichever team has the most points are the champions.
Like in the competition that we spoke about above, Leinster Lightning have the most tiles with five wins to their name. The North West Warriors have won it one time, while the remaining two teams have not lifted the trophy yet. However, we must add here that Munster Reds only joined the competition in 2017.
Betting on Cricket Online
The people of Ireland, just like the people of India, really love their cricket. They love to watch it, play it, and also bet on it, just like us Indians. With regards to Ireland cricket betting, it is very safe for us to declare that all Ireland online cricket betting fans have a lot of cricket betting sites Ireland to sign up with and make as many cricket wagers as they like.
When it comes down to locating the best cricket betting sites for Irish, it’s fair to say that it can be somewhat difficult because there are just too many to choose from. It is like going to a new restaurant, taking a look at their menu, and seeing that it has ten pages of great food – how on earth can you choose something from such a list? Well, thankfully, with cricket betting, there are plenty of great comparison sites online that can help you locate the best cricket betting sites for Irish. Most of these sites have their own sporting experts that spend their time doing research about the best bookies online, and they then give their findings to their readers.
When you are after some cricket betting sites Ireland in order to do a spot of Ireland online cricket betting, there are many things that you should take a look at. For example, you have to make sure that the sportsbook has the latest betting innovations like matched betting, a mobile app, and secure payment methods. Once you have checked these, you then have to check whether the site has enough cricket betting markets to keep you entertained and whether the Ireland cricket betting odds are as competitive as they can be. Also, once you have checked this, you need to see whether the customer service is any good and the type of security levels that are in place.
Best Irish Cricket Betting Sites
Now we are going to have a look at the best bookmakers for cricket fans in Ireland. In our opinion, Irish cricket fans will not be a disappointed cricket betting fan if they opt to open an account with Bet365. They will offer them all the cricket markets that anyone could wish for and they are not tight when it comes to the odds that they offer. Do they have mobile betting and fast methods of payments? You bet they do! We are certain that you will not have anything to moan about when it comes to withdrawal speeds, while their mobile app is one of the best around at the moment. If you do not want to download another app onto your phone, then their mobile site is a good alternative and will still provide you with a very good sports betting experience.
However, Bet365 is not the only amazing bookie that Irish cricket fans can open an account with. Other great bookies that you should take a look at include the following:
- Betiton
- Coral Hill
- Betway
- Unibet
- William Hill
- Ladbrokes
We honestly feel that if you decide to open an account with one of the bookies that we have just listed above that you will enjoy a very good sports betting experience.
How to Bet on Cricket
Betting on cricket, like it is for other sports, is pretty simple. Below we have listed the process for you, so that you know what you have to do when you go and place your first cricket bet. The process is pretty similar no matter what bookie you decide to sign up with.
- Sign into your sportsbook account and make sure that you have enough funds in your account
- Scroll through the sports that are available and locate cricket – click on it when you find it
- Take a look at the matches that are soon to be played and find a market that tickles your fancy
- Click on the market and you will find that it is added to your betting slip
- Decide on how much money you want to stake on the bet and add this value to the betting slip
- If you are content with the market and stake that you have chosen, hit the submit button – you have now made a cricket bet
See, as we said above, it is a simple process. If there are no games on and you want to bet on other sports to help entertain yourself, then all you need to do is follow the same procedure as above.
Cricket Betting Tips
There is nothing wrong with making mistakes, it is what makes us human, but committing the same mistakes continuously when you are cricket betting will only end up with you losing plenty of money. Below we shall provide you with a number of great betting tips that you should keep in mind when betting on cricket. We should not that these tips are also useful for betting on whatever other sports you enjoy betting on.
Never Change Your Stake Size
Gambling is all about making cash and being successful when it comes to managing your funds. If you do not learn to manage your funds, then your cricket betting experience will be a horrible one. One common error that cricket betting fans make time and time again is to change the size of their stake according to how successful they are being. If you do this, you need to stop it – never double the stake if you are on a nice winning streak and never try to recuperate losses if you are on a bad losing streak. In our view, you should have a flat bet approach, meaning that you bet the same stake every time and risk only 1-5 percent of your bankroll on each bet.
Try Not to Get Carried Away
If a team that you like is performing well in a tournament, then many inexperienced bettors will be too eager to place a wager on them because they are going through a good patch. Also, if a team happens to not be doing so well, then beginners will usually avoid them. However, this is not too wise a move as it could see you miss some tasty profits. Why is this so? Well, a team that is on a nice winning streak will often be undervalued by the bookmakers. The bookies are aware that their players will back these teams due to their form, so they deliberately shave the odds. Therefore, us cricket bettors end up with the raw deal. A solid piece of advice that we can provide you with is to make sure you carry out your own research and formulate a plan and stick to it when betting.
Try Not to Make Impulsive Decisions
We know that it is always great to show a bit of loyalty, but if you show too much of it in the sports betting world then you can end up with considerably lighter pocket. The best team, in any sport, is not the one you support, but the one with the better chance of winning you some cash. We advise you not to place your money on a particular team because you support them. When there is some money involved, you need to learn to control your emotions, ignore your heart and bet with your brain. If the team you like is on a bad run, do not bet on them.
Do Not Dwell on Your Poor Decisions
A bad decision when betting can cause you to lose money. We are aware as to how annoying this is but blaming yourself and getting very upset will not get your money back. Even professionals make errors that cost them dearly, so please do not be too down on yourself if you happen to do so too. If Lady Luck has deserted you one day, just walk away and continue to bet another day. There are so many cricketing events that take place over the course of a year that not betting on some is not going to cause you any damage.
Put Unrealistic Expectations to the Side
Many novices start betting with expectations that are far from reality. All of us would very muck like to earn a lot of quick money when betting, but this is the real world that we are living in, and gambling does not work like that. If you begin betting on cricket and hold the belief that you are going to win every bet that you make, then you will suffer dearly, our friend. You have to remember that there will be good days and there will be bad days, and this is exactly what makes betting on sports so exciting.
Do Not Bet on Everything
Betting on this sport is very entertaining, but there could be a time where you cannot find any cricket matches that you feel like betting on, or maybe you just want to bet on some other sport. This is perfectly normal, but you need to ensure that you are betting sports you have knowledge of. If you begin betting on sports you are not knowledgeable about, then the only thing that will happen is you will lose money. If you want to bet on sports you know little about, take a bit of time to carry out some research.