The Ireland Wolves (formally Ireland A) is a national cricket team representing Ireland. It is the second tier of international Irish cricket, below the full Ireland national cricket team. Matches played by Ireland Wolves are not considered to be One-Day Internationals, instead receiving first-class and List A classification.Are Ireland, Afghanistan better prepared for Test cricket
The team was originally linked to The Cricket Ireland Academy, allowing for fixtures to take place, prioritising Academy players. The name gave flexibility between The Wolves and The A Team. The first fixtures and tour by the Ireland Wolves was to Bath in April 2017 where they competed in a pre-season T20 Festival with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, winning 4 of their 5 games and the tournament as a whole.
Peter Johnston was the official Head Coach of Ireland Wolves, since 2022 it has been Coached by Senior Team Support Staff on a rotational basis.
The Ireland Wolves first away series against a Full Member was against the Bangladesh A cricket team, when they toured Bangladesh to play one first-class match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet, and five List A matches at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium Academy Ground, Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh A won the first-class match and four of the List A matches, and the other was washed out.
In August 2018, the Bangladesh A cricket team made a tour to Ireland where they played a series of List A and Twenty20 matches against the Ireland Wolves. The List A series was tied 2-2, while Bangladesh A won the T20 series 2–1.
In January 2019, the Ireland Wolves travelled to Sri Lanka to play two first class matches and five List A matches. The Sri Lanka A cricket team won the 1st unofficial test by 10 wickets, while the 2nd unofficial test ended in a high scoring draw. The unofficial ODI series that followed was won 5–0 by Sri Lanka A.
In May 2019 the Ireland Wolves an historic win, defeating the Bangladesh senior team in a List A fixture played at The Hills Cricket Club. The Ireland Wolves won the game by 88 runs. In June of the same year they then went on to defeat Zimbabwe's senior team by 27 runs in a List A game, giving them back to back historic wins against Full Member senior team opposition.
In January 2020, Cricket Ireland confirmed that the team would tour South Africa to play seven matches against the Namibia cricket team. They would go onto win the T20 series 4-1, giving them a series win over a strong associate senior team, the series was Curtis Campher's first introduction into Irish Cricket.
In February 2021, the Wolves toured Bangladesh for a multi-format series against Bangladesh Emerging Team which was interrupted by covid. They were defeated 4-0 in List A 50 Over series and 1-0 in the T20 Series.
In March–April 2022, the Wolves toured Namibia for three T20 and five List A 50 over games. Ireland lost the T20 series to Namibia A 1-0 and drew the 50 Over series 2-2 with Namibia A. In March 2024, the Wolves toured Nepal for two T20 with Nepal senior sides three T20 and three List A 50 over games with Nepal A sides. Coached by Ryan Eagleson they lost the first two games with Nepal senior side, but went on to win both the T20 and 50 Over series with Nepal A team 2-1 and 3-0 respectively.
Playing squads
International cap players are marked in Bold.
Name Age Batting style Bowling style Domestic team Forms S/N C/G Batsmen Christopher De Freitas Left-handed Right-arm medium Leinster Lightning FC, List A — Ross Adair Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Northern Knights List A, T20 15 F/T Cade Carmichael Right-handed Right-arm medium Northern Knights FC, List A — Morgan Topping Right-handed Right-arm off-break Northern Knights FC, List A, T20 29— All-rounders Jordan Neill Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Munster Reds FC, List A 39 — Scott Macbeth Right-handed Right-arm off-break North West Warriors FC, List A — Wicket-keepers Stephen Doheny Right-handed — North West Warriors FC, List A, T20 20 F/T Sam Topping Right-handed — Northern Knights FC, List A — Benjamin Calitz Left-handed — Northern Knights FC, List A — Spin bowlers Cian Robertson Right-handed Right-arm leg-break Slow left arm orthodox FC, List A — Gavin Hoey Right-handed Right-arm leg-break Leinster Lightning FC, List A, T20 59 R Pace bowlers Liam McCarthy Left-handed Right-arm fast-medium Munster Reds FC, List A, T20 34 R Thomas Mayes Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium Northern Knights FC, List A, T20 22 R Fionn Hand Right-handed Right-arm medium Leinster Lightning FC, List A, T20 71 F/T Matthew Foster Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Northern Knights FC, List A, T20 52 F/T
Coaching staff PositionNameHead coach Gary WilsonAssistant coach Chris BrownPhysiotherapist Mark RausaStrength & Conditioning Stuart ThompsonPerformance Analyst Scott IrvineTeam Manager Chris Siddell
References
External links
Official website of Ireland cricket team Official Facebook page of Ireland cricket team Cricket Europe Ireland Page