Domestic red-ball cricket (First-class) structure, the Inter-Provincial series, has been absent form the Irish calendar since 2019, and barring the National team playing test matches and Ireland Wolves/Academy/Emerging teams getting to play odd matches/series at home and overseas, red-ball domestic structure was not getting a start. And this is getting addressed by Cricket Ireland (CI), as they introduce an interim solution to start first-class cricket in the country with the formation of the “Emerald Challenge” series, with select 26 players turning up at Malahide from July 08th – 11th, 2024.
The two teams competing in the match will be known as Strikers and Raiders, with Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker leading the sides. With the one-off test match with Zimbabwe scheduled to take place in July 2024, the match will provide proper build-up for the players.
Emerald Challenge Squads
Strikers: Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Matthew Foster, Mike Frost, Fionn Hand, Josh Manley, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock and Paul Stirling
Raiders: Lorcan Tucker (Captain), Cade Carmichael, Chris DeFreitas, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Liam McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Cian Robertson, Harry Tector, Morgan Topping and Craig Young
Emerald Challenge 2024 Schedule
July 08th – 11th, 2024: Strikers vs Raiders (Scorecard)
