DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland today released its central playing contract lists for men and women with a total of 48 players now under contract, including a record number of full-time contracts awarded to women.
The players’ contracts have been finalized and distributed following an agreement between Cricket Ireland and the Irish Cricketers’ Association (ICA) on the remuneration structure and terms and conditions of the players’ contracts last month.
The central list of contracts is as follows:
Ireland Men
Full-time contracts
- Mark Adair (Lisburn/Knights of the North)
- Ross Adair (CIYMS/Knights of the North)
- Andrew Balbirnie (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Curtis Campher (Clontarf/Munster Reds)
- Gareth Delany (Leinster/Munster Reds)
- George Dockrell (Phoenix/Leinster Lightning)
- Stephen Doheny (Merrion/Northwest Warriors)
- Matthew Foster (CSNI/Knights of the North)
- Hand of Fionn (Clontarf/Leinster Lightning)
- Graham Hume (Waringstown/North West Warriors)
- Josh Little (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Andy McBrine (Donemana/Northwest Warriors)
- Barry McCarthy (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- James McCollum (Waringstown/Knights of the North)
- PJ Moor (Clontarf/Munster Reds)
- Neil Rock (Instonians/Knights of the North)
- Paul Stirling (N/A/Knights of the North)
- Harry Tector (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Lorcan Tucker (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Ben White (Phoenix/Munster Reds)
- Craig Young (North Down/North West Warriors)
Service contracts
- Gavin Hoey (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn/Knights of the North)
- Tom Mayes (Waringstown/Knights of the North)
- Liam McCarthy (Railway Union/Munster Reds)
Ireland Women
Full-time contracts:
- Alana Dalzell (Pain/Dragons)
- Laura Delany (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Arlene Kelly (Malahide/Dragons)
- Gaby Lewis (Phoenix/Scorchers)
- Louise Little (Pembroke/Dragons)
- Sophie MacMahon (Leinster/Scorchers)
- Jane Maguire (The Hills/Scorchers)
- Cara Murray (Waringstown/Clontarf/Dragons)
- Léa Paul (Merrion/Scorchers)
- Orla Prendergast (Pembroke/Dragons)
- Freya Sargent (Clontarf/Typhoons)
- Rebecca Stokell (Merrion/Typhoons)
Education contracts:
- Ava Canning (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Georgina Dempsey (Phoenix/Typhoons)
- Sarah Forbes (Pembroke/Typhoons)
- Amy Hunter (Instonians/Dragons)
- Joanna Loughran (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Aimee Maguire (The Hills/Scorchers)
Occasional contracts:
- Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf/Scorchers)
- Abbi Harrison (Waringstown/Dragons)
- Kia McCartney (Coleraine/Dragons)
- Alice Tector (Phoenix/Scorchers)
Service contract :
- Una Raymond-Hoey (Ringwood)
TYPES OF CONTRACTS
- Complete–time contracts – engage players on a full-time employment basis.
- Education contracts – designed to work with players who are in school full-time or studying in higher education. Players on these contracts receive a significant living allowance to ensure that they do not need to find employment during their study years and can instead concentrate on their cricket. All of these players will be available full-time during the summer break.
- Occasional contracts – offering players a deposit during the summer holidays, loss of income for the rest of the year, match fees, 12 months health and medical insurance, sports science support (physiotherapy, strength and conditioning physics, psychology, performance analysis, nutrition and lifestyle management). ), specialist coaching support and, for ROI-based players, full access to the Sport Ireland Institute.
- Service contracts – contract players for a specific number of days or specific series, with rights similar to casual contracts.
THEY SAID…
Ciara O’Briennational women’s coach, said:
“Women’s cricket continues to progress and I am delighted that we have been able to increase the number of full-time contracts on offer to a record 12 this year.
“We have a cohort of young but exceptionally talented players – although their the average age is just over 21, this is a group of players who have accumulated a lot of experience over the last few years.
“This year we also welcome the return of Una Raymond-Hoey to the Irish team, on a retainer basis. Una, who has 15 caps for Ireland, has spent the last five years in Australia – playing cricket and rising through the ranks, representing Victoria and being part of the Melbourne Stars squad at the Women’s Big Bash.
“My congratulations to all the players receiving contracts for 2024. I look forward to a busy year ahead and watching them all grow in stature and profile on the world stage.”
André Blancmen’s national coach, said:
“As our talent pool grows, so does the challenge of selecting central contracts. With an increasing volume of cricket to be played at home and away, our need to nurture and develop talent to compete at the highest level becomes more acute and selecting the right combination of players to receive central contracts is one of the most important decisions we can make. do as an organization. Our players are our assets, and we constantly monitor, review and discuss the progress and performance of our players to ensure we have the best talent available to the head coach and captain.
“We welcome the recent news regarding Heinrich Malan’s contract extension and I look forward to continuing to work with him to shape the direction and succession planning of the team in the years to come.
“I congratulate the players who will receive contracts in 2024 and look forward to seeing the steady progress and development of recent years translate into consistent success on the field.”
Richard Holdsworthdirector of high performance for Cricket Ireland, said:
“We are announcing these contracts on the eve of our senior men’s team’s match against India in the Men’s T20 World Cup. Indeed, that is fundamentally the goal of central contracts: to develop our players so that they can compete at the highest level against the best teams in the world.
“The investment we are making in these players goes beyond financial. This also includes the coaching and support staff we have in place to support them, the hundreds of hours these players train and hone their craft, the personal development programs we put them through and the hard work hardworking staff, consultants and volunteers who go above and beyond to ensure players are supported in their work.
“Indeed, one of the areas we are most proud of is the health and lifestyle support services we have offered to players. These are there to ensure that players are given the best platform to succeed and focus on their cricket first and foremost.
“The High Performance Program also understands that player development and progression is primarily through playing competitive cricket at a high level. Although 2024 has been a busy year thus far, we are poised for an even busier summer highlight for both the men’s and women’s programs. As such, recognizing and rewarding our best talent through central contracts can play a major role in the advancement of Irish cricket, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve as a cricketing nation over the course of years to come.
