Image: Malahide Cricket Ground, Dan Heap, CC BY 2.0
Cricket Ireland Chief Executive Warren Deutrom has described the Irish Government’s decision to grant approval to develop a national cricket stadium as “up there in terms of significance with the day we became a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC)”.
‘BBC Sport’ stated that the Irish Government said recently that “approval has been given to commence the planning and design phase of this exciting project”.
Dublin (Ireland)-based Cricket Ireland is the national governing body for the sport of cricket in Ireland. It is responsible for setting the strategic direction and the national administration of cricket on the island of Ireland.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965 and adopted its current name in 1987. The ICC has its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
‘BBC Sport’ further stated that planning and design will be completed by mid-2025 with the tender phase to follow for the National Cricket Stadium and High Performance Centre which will be located in the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown (suburb in Dublin, Ireland).
The Phase One, which will include the delivery of a main cricket oval and permanent seating for 4,000 spectators with space to accommodate additional temporary seating, is scheduled to be completed in 2028.
Deutrom described the above announcement as “absolutely fantastic. It is a huge tribute to everybody involved at all levels in Irish cricket that have got us to the stage whereby the Government genuinely regards us as a sport of national significance worthy of major investment. These facilities will help drive the sport forward – they will significantly assist our highest performing players nationally and provincially to prepare, train and perform better on the world stage.”
The Cricket Ireland chief said the permanent venue would also ensure “we have a platform suitable of hosting the world’s top teams on an annual basis and also when we co-host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with England and Scotland in 2030. It’s going to take time to get there – likely three, maybe even four years, until we begin to use it, but the above announcement fires the starting pistol on the project. It means we’re going to be using much less temporary infrastructure which means we can put that money instead into people and programs – and allow us to focus investment into the club and the regional facilities and infrastructure through our new club fund – to help grow the game.”
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (formerly the ICC World Twenty20) is a biennial T20 cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) every two years since its inauguration in 2007 with the exception of 2011, 2018 and 2020. This event was rebranded from ICC World Twenty20 to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in November 2018. India is the current champions after winning their second title in the 2024 tournament.
Added Brian MacNeice, Cricket Ireland Chair, “We offer our wholehearted thanks to the Irish Sports Minister Catherine Martin and the Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne, in addition to Sport Ireland, for their generous support for and belief in cricket. This investment will help shape our future as a sport and support our ambitions to be a major sport in Ireland and a major nation in world cricket.”
Sport Ireland, formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees and partly funds the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill near Abbotstown House in Dublin.
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