# Inter-Provincial Cup

The Inter-Provincial Cup is a limited-overs cricket tournament in Ireland between the four leading cricketing provinces of Ireland.
The tournament was held for the first time in 2013 across venues in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Up to and including the 2016 tournament, the matches were not given List A status. However, at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in October 2016, List A status was awarded to all future matches.

## History
### Background

The Ireland cricket team enjoyed increasing success at the international level in the late 2000's and into the 2010's which boosted the popularity of the game in the country. They had earned the reputation of a giant killer after upsetting teams like Pakistan and Bangladesh (2007 Cricket World Cup), and England (2011 Cricket World Cup). Their good performances in major international tournaments meant that Cricket Ireland openly started bidding for Test match status to the International Cricket Council.
Nevertheless, one of the main stumbling road blocks for Ireland from getting to play the pinnacle of the game was a lack of a first-class cricket infrastructure at home, among other things. As early as August 2011, Cricket Ireland announced plans of a domestic first-class tournament. In January 2012, Cricket Ireland announced the ambitious 'Vision 2020' plan which announced the establishment of a first-class structure by 2015 and achievement of Test status by 2020. It also began work on a cricket academy to find talented players across the country and improving grass-roots cricket in the country.
For the first time professional contacts, with central, A, B, and C levels were established. Plans for Test status were established partly to stem the flow of their star cricketers moving away to England in hope of playing Test cricket such as Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin.
According to Richard Holdsworth in an interview with Setanta Sports, Cricket Ireland were pleased with the strategic progress that had been made as of November 2012. In December 2012, Ireland got a $1.5m boost as increased funding from the ICC to establish elite domestic competitions in the country.

## Format

The tournament is played in a double round-robin format, with each team playing each other twice, once at home and once away.

### Points summary

Points are scored as follows:
* Win – 4 points
* Tie or no result – 2 points
* Loss – 0 points
* Bonus point – 1 point awarded to a team winning a match with a run rate equal to 1.25 times that of the losing team

## Teams

According to Richard Holdsworth's interview to Setanta Sports, three teams would initially participate in the tournament, Leinster cricket team, Northern cricket team and North West cricket team as Munster and Connacht were considered still quite far away from fielding a competitive team for provincial tournaments. They were also given a separate limited overs names much similar to the systems in England and Australia, i.e., like Nottinghamshire Outlaws and South Australia Redbacks. In this case, the names are Leinster Lightning, Northern Knights and North West Warriors.
From the 2021 season Munster Reds joined the Inter Provincial Cup having previously only competed in the Twenty20 Inter-Provincial Trophy
| Team | First season | Titles |
| Leinster Lightning | 2013 | 9 |
| Northern Knights | 2013 | 2 |
| North West Warriors | 2013 | 0 |
| Munster Reds | 2021 | 1 |

## Competition placings
### 2013 to present

| Season | Winner | Second | Third | Fourth |
| 2013 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2014 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2015 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2016 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2017 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | DNP |
| 2018 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | DNP |
| 2019 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2020 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | DNP |
| 2021 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Munster Reds |
| 2022 | Munster Reds | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights |
| 2023 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Munster Reds | North West Warriors |
| 2024 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Munster Reds | North West Warriors |
DNP - Did Not Participate

## All-time records

(All records correct to end of 2023 season)

### Team records
#### Highest innings totals

| Score | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
| 425/7 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | The Vineyard | 14 Aug 2023 |
| 353/9 | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Stormont | 5 Sep 2023 |
| 332/7 | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | New Strabane Park | 30 May 2016 |
| 320 ao | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Anglesea Road | 2 Aug 2015 |
| 316/8 | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Sydney Parade | 16 May 2023 |

### Lowest completed innings totals

| Score | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
| 90 ao | Munster Reds | North West Warriors | Mardyke | 19 May 2022 |
| 105 ao | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Stormont | 4 May 2015 |
| 120 ao | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Lodge Road | 26 May 2014 |
| 123 ao | North West Warriors | Leinster Lightning | The Village | 1 Jun 2013 |
| 123 ao | Northern Knights | North West Warriors | Bready | 12 May 2022 |

### Most career runs

| Runs | Innings | Player | Team | Average |
| 1071 | 32 | Kevin O'Brien | Lightning/Reds | 46.57 |
| 1041 | 26 | Andrew Balbirnie | Leinster Lightning | 45.26 |
| 972 | 25 | George Dockrell | Leinster Lightning | 69.43 |
| 867 | 36 | Andy McBrine | North West Warriors | 25.50 |
| 814 | 26 | Lorcan Tucker | Leinster Lightning | 37.00 |

### Highest individual scores

| Score | Player | For | Opps | Venue | Date |
| 152 | PJ Moor | Munster Reds | Leinster Lightning | Sydney Parade | 10 May 2022 |
| 136 | Simi Singh | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | New Strabane Park | 30 May 2016 |
| 133 | Lorcan Tucker | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | The Vineyard | 14 Aug 2023 |
| 128 | Luke Georgeson | Northern Knights | Munster Reds | Stormont | 30 Jun 2021 |
| 126 | Andrew Balbirnie | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | The Green | 16 May 2021 |

### Most runs scored in a season

| Runs | Innings | Player | Team | Season |
| 364 | 5 | George Dockrell | Leinster Lightning | 2021 |
| 352 | 6 | Murray Commins | Munster Reds | 2021 |
| 350 | 4 | Andrew Balbirnie | Leinster Lightning | 2019 |
| 317 | 5 | Luke Georgeson | Northern Knights | 2021 |
| 258 | 5 | William Porterfield | North West Warriors | 2021 |

### Most career wickets

| Wickets | Matches | Player | Team | Average |
| 53 | 36 | George Dockrell | Leinster Lightning | 21.51 |
| 50 | 42 | Tyrone Kane | Lightning/Reds | 22.70 |
| 42 | 37 | Simi Singh | Leinster Lightning | 24.40 |
| 38 | 27 | Craig Young | North West Warriors | 26.39 |
| 37 | 38 | Andy McBrine | North West Warriors | 30.59 |

### Best bowling in an innings

| Bowling | Player | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
| 6/26 | Gavin Hoey | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Stormont | 5 Sep 2023 |
| 6/39 | Barry McCarthy | Leinster Lightning | Munster Reds | Sydney Parade | 22 May 2021 |
| 6/42 | Tyrone Kane | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | Stormont | 20 Aug 2019 |
| 5/16 | Liam McCarthy | Munster Reds | North West Warriors | Bready | 4 Sep 2023 |
| 5/21 | George Dockrell | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | The Vineyard | 4 Jun 2018 |

### Most wickets in a season

| Wickets | Average | Player | Team | Season |
| 17 | 12.58 | Barry McCarthy | Leinster Lightning | 2021 |
| 15 | 16.46 | Liam McCarthy | Munster Reds | 2023 |
| 15 | 19.86 | Theo van Woerkom | Northern Knights | 2023 |
| 13 | 17.15 | Josh Manley | Munster Reds | 2021 |
| 12 | 15.75 | Mike Frost | Munster Reds | 2022 |

### Highest partnerships for each wicket

| Wicket | P/Ship | Player 1 | Player 2 | Team | Opps | Venue | Date |
| 1st | 158 | William Porterfield | David Rankin | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Stormont | 28 May 2018 |
| 2nd | 240 | Andy McBrine | Stephen Doheny | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | Stormont | 2 Jun 2022 |
| 3rd | 202 | John Anderson | Simi Singh | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | New Strabane Park | 30 May 2016 |
| 4th | 157 | Tyrone Kane | PJ Moor | Munster Reds | Leinster Lightning | Sydney Parade | 18 May 2023 |
| 5th | 187 | Andrew Balbirnie | Kevin O'Brien | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | The Vineyard | 3 May 2014 |
| 6th | 102 | Neil Rock | Mark Adair | Northern Knights | Munster Reds | Mardyke | 15 Aug 2023 |
| 7th | 215* | Simi Singh | George Dockrell | Leinster Lightning | Northern Knights | The Vineyard | 4 Jun 2018 |
| 8th | 103 | Tyrone Kane | Lorcan Tucker | Leinster Lightning | North West Warriors | Observatory Lane | 9 Sep 2018 |
| 9th | 72 | Shane Getkate | Jacob Mulder | Northern Knights | Leinster Lightning | Observatory Lane | 31 Jul 2016 |
| 10th | 69 | Craig Young | Andrew Britton | North West Warriors | Northern Knights | La Manga | 24 Apr 2019 |