A look back at how Ireland Men performed during the last year, with the high point qualification for the T20 World Cup, and the nadir the abject failure to make it to the 50 overs event in India.
They returned to Test match action after an almost four-year exile, and while it wasn't the biggest surprise they lost all four games comprehensively, there were some individual performances that will live long in the memory.
It was great to have the format back. Somethings shouldn't be measured in currency alone.
Andy McBrine's 6 wickets against Bangladesh, centuries for Lorcan Tucker, Paul Stirling, and Curtis Campher, while there near misses for Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector, Mark Adair and McBrine - their stand of 163 in the second innings at Lord's will be one to tell the grandchildren.
As well as the four Tests, they played 20 ODI's - winning six, losing nine and five no-results.
Three defeats came in the aforementioned disastrous WCQ tournament in Zimbabwe, where losses to Oman. Scotland and Sri Lanka saw their qualification 'efforts' ended before they really began.
The year ended on a high in the format with a first series win in Zimbabwe - tempered by the fact that the hosts were missing a trio of their best players and had just been ousted by Uganda in the regional T20 WC qualifiers.
The Irish played 16 T20I's with a 50% record of eight wins and losses. They qualified for the 2024 T20 World Cup avoiding Associate banana skins in the form of Italy (just), Austria, Denmark and Jersey, but did lose the regional final to Scotland in a high scoring decider.
Harry Tector had a great year - his tally of 1382 runs only bettered in Irish history once - by Paul Stirling's 1582 in 2019.
Mark Adair may go a little under the radar but his haul of 59 wickets is an Irish record - beating Trent Johnston's 58 wickets back in 2010 - a great testament to his wicket taking ability in the white-ball format - T20I's especially.
TOP RUNS 2023
# | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | HT Tector | 40 | 38 | 4 | 1382 | 140 | 40.65 | 1802 | 76.69 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 114 | 37 |
2 | C Campher | 39 | 34 | 4 | 967 | 120 | 32.23 | 1192 | 81.12 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 107 | 21 |
3 | A Balbirnie | 34 | 35 | 3 | 915 | 121* | 28.59 | 1209 | 75.68 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 94 | 17 |
4 | PR Stirling | 35 | 33 | 2 | 879 | 162 | 28.35 | 926 | 94.92 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 109 | 27 |
5 | LJ Tucker | 37 | 37 | 7 | 824 | 108 | 27.47 | 1004 | 82.07 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 95 | 8 |
6 | GH Dockrell | 37 | 28 | 8 | 657 | 91* | 32.85 | 669 | 98.21 | - | 3 | 2 | 41 | 20 |
7 | MR Adair | 39 | 26 | 6 | 474 | 88 | 23.70 | 508 | 93.31 | - | 2 | 2 | 121 | 27 |
8 | AR McBrine | 22 | 20 | 3 | 418 | 86* | 24.59 | 681 | 61.38 | - | 2 | 1 | 50 | 7 |
9 | ST Doheny | 12 | 10 | - | 181 | 84 | 18.10 | 276 | 65.58 | - | 1 | - | 18 | 2 |
10 | GJ Delany | 16 | 10 | 4 | 153 | 26* | 25.50 | 119 | 128.57 | - | - | - | 10 | 6 |
11 | GR Adair | 7 | 7 | - | 143 | 65 | 20.43 | 104 | 137.50 | - | 1 | - | 12 | 7 |
12 | BJ McCarthy | 17 | 10 | 2 | 135 | 51* | 16.88 | 109 | 123.85 | - | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 |
13 | JA McCollum | 4 | 8 | 1 | 126 | 36 | 18.00 | 326 | 38.65 | - | - | 1 | 17 | - |
14 | GI Hume | 18 | 10 | 4 | 76 | 20* | 12.67 | 191 | 39.79 | - | - | 1 | 7 | 2 |
15 | PJ Moor | 4 | 8 | - | 76 | 19 | 9.50 | 199 | 38.19 | - | - | 1 | 10 | 2 |
16 | J Little | 24 | 7 | 5 | 61 | 29 | 30.50 | 54 | 112.96 | - | - | - | 7 | 2 |
17 | NA Rock | 6 | 4 | - | 58 | 36 | 14.50 | 42 | 138.10 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 |
18 | CA Young | 14 | 5 | 5 | 50 | 40* | - | 63 | 79.37 | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
19 | F Hand | 6 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 9* | 6.33 | 53 | 35.85 | - | - | - | 2 | - |
20 | MJ Humphreys | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 15.00 | 61 | 24.59 | - | - | - | 3 | - |
21 | M Commins | 4 | 5 | - | 12 | 6 | 2.40 | 39 | 30.77 | - | - | 2 | 1 | - |
22 | BC White | 16 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 6* | 5.00 | 41 | 24.39 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - |
23 | TE Kane | 2 | 1 | - | 9 | 9 | 9.00 | 11 | 81.82 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
TOP RUNS TESTS
# | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LJ Tucker | 4 | 8 | - | 351 | 108 | 43.88 | 545 | 64.40 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 1 |
2 | HT Tector | 4 | 8 | - | 336 | 85 | 42.00 | 738 | 45.53 | - | 4 | 34 | 7 |
3 | AR McBrine | 4 | 8 | 1 | 258 | 86* | 36.86 | 440 | 58.64 | - | 2 | 32 | 5 |
4 | C Campher | 4 | 8 | - | 240 | 111 | 30.00 | 527 | 45.54 | 1 | - | 37 | 3 |
5 | A Balbirnie | 4 | 8 | - | 172 | 95 | 21.50 | 356 | 48.31 | - | 1 | 21 | - |
6 | MR Adair | 3 | 6 | 1 | 170 | 88 | 34.00 | 280 | 60.71 | - | 1 | 87 | 12 |
7 | PR Stirling | 2 | 4 | - | 149 | 103 | 37.25 | 238 | 62.61 | 1 | - | 17 | 4 |
8 | JA McCollum | 4 | 8 | 1 | 126 | 36 | 18.00 | 326 | 38.65 | - | - | 17 | - |
9 | PJ Moor | 4 | 8 | - | 76 | 19 | 9.50 | 199 | 38.19 | - | - | 10 | 2 |
10 | GI Hume | 3 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 14 | 7.20 | 138 | 26.09 | - | - | 6 | - |
11 | GH Dockrell | 1 | 2 | - | 34 | 32 | 17.00 | 78 | 43.59 | - | - | 6 | - |
12 | MJ Humphreys | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 11.00 | 54 | 20.37 | - | - | 2 | - |
13 | F Hand | 1 | 2 | - | 8 | 7 | 4.00 | 41 | 19.51 | - | - | - | - |
14 | M Commins | 2 | 4 | - | 6 | 5 | 1.50 | 26 | 23.08 | - | - | 1 | - |
15 | BC White | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 30 | 3.33 | - | - | - | - |
TOP RUNS ODI'S
# | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | HT Tector | 20 | 16 | 2 | 711 | 140 | 50.79 | 762 | 93.31 | 2 | 4 | 56 | 22 |
2 | PR Stirling | 20 | 16 | - | 473 | 162 | 29.56 | 515 | 91.84 | 1 | 2 | 53 | 17 |
3 | A Balbirnie | 18 | 15 | 3 | 459 | 121* | 38.25 | 612 | 75.00 | 1 | 3 | 44 | 5 |
4 | GH Dockrell | 20 | 13 | 4 | 449 | 91* | 49.89 | 471 | 95.33 | - | 3 | 26 | 12 |
5 | C Campher | 19 | 13 | 1 | 411 | 120 | 34.25 | 428 | 96.03 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 6 |
6 | LJ Tucker | 20 | 16 | 4 | 293 | 50 | 24.42 | 313 | 93.61 | - | 1 | 33 | 3 |
7 | ST Doheny | 9 | 7 | - | 162 | 84 | 23.14 | 255 | 63.53 | - | 1 | 16 | 2 |
8 | AR McBrine | 18 | 12 | 2 | 160 | 35 | 16.00 | 241 | 66.39 | - | - | 18 | 2 |
9 | MR Adair | 20 | 11 | 4 | 143 | 25* | 20.43 | 107 | 133.64 | - | - | 15 | 5 |
10 | GJ Delany | 8 | 5 | 1 | 75 | 20 | 18.75 | 68 | 110.29 | - | - | 3 | 3 |
11 | J Little | 14 | 4 | 2 | 54 | 29 | 27.00 | 45 | 120.00 | - | - | 7 | 2 |
12 | BJ McCarthy | 6 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 41 | 25.00 | 52 | 96.15 | - | - | 5 | 1 |
13 | CA Young | 8 | 2 | 2 | 43 | 40* | - | 47 | 91.49 | - | - | 2 | 2 |
14 | GI Hume | 12 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 15* | 20.00 | 36 | 55.56 | - | - | 1 | - |
15 | M Commins | 2 | 1 | - | 6 | 6 | 6.00 | 13 | 46.15 | - | - | - | - |
16 | MJ Humphreys | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4* | - | 7 | 57.14 | - | - | 1 | - |
TOP RUNS T20I'S
# | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | HT Tector | 16 | 14 | 2 | 335 | 54* | 27.92 | 302 | 110.93 | - | 1 | 24 | 8 |
2 | C Campher | 16 | 13 | 3 | 316 | 61 | 31.60 | 237 | 133.33 | - | 2 | 24 | 12 |
3 | A Balbirnie | 12 | 12 | - | 284 | 72 | 23.67 | 241 | 117.84 | - | 2 | 29 | 12 |
4 | PR Stirling | 13 | 13 | 2 | 257 | 77 | 23.36 | 173 | 148.55 | - | 2 | 39 | 6 |
5 | LJ Tucker | 13 | 13 | 3 | 180 | 95* | 18.00 | 146 | 123.29 | - | 1 | 16 | 4 |
6 | GH Dockrell | 16 | 13 | 4 | 174 | 49* | 19.33 | 120 | 145.00 | - | - | 9 | 8 |
7 | MR Adair | 16 | 9 | 1 | 161 | 72 | 20.12 | 121 | 133.06 | - | 1 | 19 | 10 |
8 | GR Adair | 7 | 7 | - | 143 | 65 | 20.43 | 104 | 137.50 | - | 1 | 12 | 7 |
9 | BJ McCarthy | 11 | 7 | 1 | 85 | 51* | 14.17 | 57 | 149.12 | - | 1 | 6 | 6 |
10 | GJ Delany | 8 | 5 | 3 | 78 | 26* | 39.00 | 51 | 152.94 | - | - | 7 | 3 |
11 | NA Rock | 6 | 4 | - | 58 | 36 | 14.50 | 42 | 138.10 | - | - | 2 | 1 |
12 | GI Hume | 3 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 20* | - | 17 | 117.65 | - | - | - | 2 |
13 | ST Doheny | 3 | 3 | - | 19 | 15 | 6.33 | 21 | 90.48 | - | - | 2 | - |
14 | F Hand | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9* | 11.00 | 12 | 91.67 | - | - | 2 | - |
15 | TE Kane | 2 | 1 | - | 9 | 9 | 9.00 | 11 | 81.82 | - | - | 1 | - |
16 | BC White | 11 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 6* | - | 11 | 81.82 | - | - | 1 | - |
17 | CA Young | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5* | - | 16 | 43.75 | - | - | - | - |
18 | J Little | 10 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6* | - | 9 | 77.78 | - | - | - | - |
TOP WICKETS 2023
# | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | MR Adair | 39 | 281.5 | 18 | 1582 | 59 | 4-13 | 26.81 | 5.61 | 28.66 | - | 75 | 4 |
2 | J Little | 24 | 151 | 2 | 1007 | 33 | 6-36 | 30.52 | 6.67 | 27.45 | 1 | 37 | 2 |
3 | GI Hume | 18 | 142.3 | 9 | 748 | 26 | 4-34 | 28.77 | 5.25 | 32.88 | - | 12 | - |
4 | BJ McCarthy | 17 | 89.4 | 3 | 595 | 25 | 3-7 | 23.80 | 6.64 | 21.52 | - | 20 | 2 |
5 | CA Young | 14 | 79.4 | 2 | 456 | 24 | 3-31 | 19.00 | 5.72 | 19.92 | - | 13 | 2 |
6 | C Campher | 39 | 172.1 | 5 | 1061 | 22 | 4-37 | 48.23 | 6.16 | 46.95 | - | 26 | 2 |
7 | AR McBrine | 22 | 274.5 | 15 | 1245 | 21 | 6-118 | 59.29 | 4.53 | 78.52 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
8 | BC White | 16 | 130.3 | 1 | 823 | 20 | 2-10 | 41.15 | 6.31 | 39.15 | - | 6 | 2 |
9 | GH Dockrell | 37 | 97.3 | - | 577 | 16 | 3-43 | 36.06 | 5.92 | 36.56 | - | 10 | - |
10 | HT Tector | 40 | 60 | - | 365 | 9 | 2-17 | 40.56 | 6.08 | 40.00 | - | 11 | - |
11 | GJ Delany | 16 | 57 | - | 371 | 8 | 2-8 | 46.38 | 6.51 | 42.75 | - | 9 | - |
12 | MJ Humphreys | 4 | 23 | - | 172 | 2 | 2-10 | 86.00 | 7.48 | 69.00 | - | 1 | - |
13 | F Hand | 6 | 25.2 | 2 | 175 | 2 | 1-15 | 87.50 | 6.91 | 76.00 | - | 2 | - |
14 | T van Woerkom | 3 | 9 | - | 85 | 1 | 1-47 | 85.00 | 9.44 | 54.00 | - | 1 | - |
TOP WICKETS TESTS
# | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | AR McBrine | 4 | 151.5 | 12 | 622 | 11 | 6-118 | 56.55 | 4.10 | 82.82 | 1 | 1 | - |
2 | MR Adair | 3 | 68.1 | 7 | 328 | 4 | 2-64 | 82.00 | 4.81 | 102.25 | - | 6 | 2 |
3 | BC White | 3 | 76.3 | 1 | 436 | 4 | 2-71 | 109.00 | 5.70 | 114.75 | - | - | 2 |
4 | C Campher | 4 | 62 | 4 | 327 | 3 | 2-84 | 109.00 | 5.27 | 124.00 | - | 1 | 2 |
5 | GI Hume | 3 | 50 | 5 | 209 | 2 | 1-85 | 104.50 | 4.18 | 150.00 | - | 1 | - |
6 | GH Dockrell | 1 | 21.3 | - | 112 | 1 | 1-112 | 112.00 | 5.21 | 129.00 | - | - | - |
7 | F Hand | 1 | 19 | 2 | 113 | 1 | 1-113 | 113.00 | 5.95 | 114.00 | - | 1 | - |
8 | MJ Humphreys | 1 | 10 | - | 67 | - | 0-67 | - | 6.70 | - | - | - | - |
9 | HT Tector | 4 | 14 | - | 83 | - | 0-5 | - | 5.93 | - | - | - | - |
TOP WICKETS ODI'S
# | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | MR Adair | 20 | 156.4 | 11 | 832 | 29 | 4-40 | 28.69 | 5.31 | 32.41 | - | 49 | 1 |
2 | J Little | 14 | 112 | 2 | 731 | 23 | 6-36 | 31.78 | 6.53 | 29.22 | 1 | 25 | 2 |
3 | GI Hume | 12 | 81.3 | 4 | 438 | 20 | 4-34 | 21.90 | 5.37 | 24.45 | - | 8 | - |
4 | CA Young | 8 | 59 | 2 | 300 | 14 | 3-31 | 21.43 | 5.08 | 25.29 | - | 10 | 2 |
5 | GH Dockrell | 20 | 65 | - | 367 | 13 | 3-43 | 28.23 | 5.65 | 30.00 | - | 6 | - |
6 | C Campher | 19 | 79.1 | 1 | 493 | 13 | 4-37 | 37.92 | 6.23 | 36.54 | - | 18 | - |
7 | AR McBrine | 18 | 123 | 3 | 623 | 10 | 2-19 | 62.30 | 5.07 | 73.80 | - | 4 | 1 |
8 | BJ McCarthy | 6 | 49.4 | 3 | 305 | 9 | 3-56 | 33.89 | 6.14 | 33.11 | - | 11 | 2 |
9 | GJ Delany | 8 | 36 | - | 212 | 3 | 2-52 | 70.67 | 5.89 | 72.00 | - | 3 | - |
10 | HT Tector | 20 | 24 | - | 148 | 2 | 1-5 | 74.00 | 6.17 | 72.00 | - | 2 | - |
11 | T van Woerkom | 2 | 8 | - | 75 | 1 | 1-47 | 75.00 | 9.38 | 48.00 | - | - | - |
12 | BC White | 2 | 18 | - | 118 | 1 | 1-59 | 118.00 | 6.56 | 108.00 | - | 2 | - |
13 | MJ Humphreys | 2 | 11 | - | 95 | - | 0-36 | - | 8.64 | - | - | 1 | - |
TOP WICKETS T20I'S
# | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | MR Adair | 16 | 57 | - | 422 | 26 | 4-13 | 16.23 | 7.40 | 13.15 | - | 20 | 1 |
2 | BJ McCarthy | 11 | 40 | - | 290 | 16 | 3-7 | 18.12 | 7.25 | 15.00 | - | 9 | - |
3 | BC White | 11 | 36 | - | 269 | 15 | 2-10 | 17.93 | 7.47 | 14.40 | - | 4 | - |
4 | CA Young | 6 | 20.4 | - | 156 | 10 | 2-2 | 15.60 | 7.55 | 12.40 | - | 3 | - |
5 | J Little | 10 | 39 | - | 276 | 10 | 2-16 | 27.60 | 7.08 | 23.40 | - | 12 | - |
6 | HT Tector | 16 | 22 | - | 134 | 7 | 2-17 | 19.14 | 6.09 | 18.86 | - | 9 | - |
7 | C Campher | 16 | 31 | - | 241 | 6 | 2-18 | 40.17 | 7.77 | 31.00 | - | 7 | - |
8 | GJ Delany | 8 | 21 | - | 159 | 5 | 2-8 | 31.80 | 7.57 | 25.20 | - | 6 | - |
9 | GI Hume | 3 | 11 | - | 101 | 4 | 3-17 | 25.25 | 9.18 | 16.50 | - | 3 | - |
10 | MJ Humphreys | 1 | 2 | - | 10 | 2 | 2-10 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 6.00 | - | - | - |
11 | GH Dockrell | 16 | 11 | - | 98 | 2 | 1-9 | 49.00 | 8.91 | 33.00 | - | 4 | - |
12 | F Hand | 5 | 6.2 | - | 62 | 1 | 1-15 | 62.00 | 9.79 | 38.00 | - | 1 | - |
13 | T van Woerkom | 1 | 1 | - | 10 | - | 0-10 | - | 10.00 | - | - | 1 | - |