The 2026 Under 19 World Cup drew to a close on Friday with India beating England in a high scoring game, dominated by Vaibhav Suryavanshi making 175. How did Ireland's cricketers perform? We look at the stats.
The new format of recent tournaments has favoured Ireland and their fellow Full Members with one win over an Associate needed to progress to the Super Six event.
After a loss in the warm-ups to Tanzania there would have been a worry that Ireland may not achieve that, but thankfully after losses to Australia and Sri Lanka - where they had their moments in both, but ultimately lost by convincing margins - they did manage to put together a decent batting effort to overcome Japan and progress.
They started brightly against West Indies but the chase fell apart, and the least said about their 191-run loss to Afghanistan - a real 'men against boys' match-off.
I don't like condemning squads when the players are still teenagers - would I have likeed my work and photography written off at 19, but it's fair to say there won't be many anxious looks over the shoulders from the senior squad after this tournament.
The highlight of their batting was undoubtedly Rob O'Brien's 79 against Australia, while Freddie Ogilby and Seb Dijkstra were the others to pass 50 in their five matches.
The bowling relied on their battery of medium-quicks and the lack of penetration showed Ireland had brought knives to a gun fight. While other sides unleashed their variety of spinners, Ireland's attack were at times very one-dimensional. They certainly tried, but rarely looked consistently threatening.
The gulf in class between Ireland the top sides in the competition is worrying - or should it be? If one or two of the 15 kick on and manage to forge a career in the senior game, then that's probably all one can ask for.
We have been spoiled in the past with golden generational crops - that hasn't been the case recently, and on the evidence of the 2026 event is likely to be once again.
I'd love to be proved wrong though - they certainly have time on their side.
IRELAND BATTING
| # | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R O'Brien | 5 | 5 | - | 156 | 79 | 31.20 | 223 | 69.96 | - | 1 | - | 12 | 1 | 156 |
| 2 | F Ogilby | 5 | 5 | - | 137 | 73 | 27.40 | 208 | 65.87 | - | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 137 |
| 3 | A Leckey | 5 | 5 | - | 93 | 44 | 18.60 | 133 | 69.92 | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 93 |
| 4 | S Dijkstra | 5 | 5 | 1 | 92 | 55* | 23.00 | 124 | 74.19 | - | 1 | - | 7 | 1 | 92 |
| 5 | J West | 5 | 5 | - | 90 | 45 | 18.00 | 154 | 58.44 | - | - | 1 | 13 | - | 90 |
| 6 | M Bates | 5 | 5 | - | 85 | 34 | 17.00 | 167 | 50.90 | - | - | - | 4 | 1 | 85 |
| 7 | R Wilson | 5 | 4 | 2 | 84 | 32 | 42.00 | 87 | 96.55 | - | - | - | 7 | 2 | 84 |
| 8 | O Riley | 5 | 5 | 2 | 53 | 31* | 17.67 | 66 | 80.30 | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 53 |
| 9 | Callum Armstrong | 1 | 1 | - | 39 | 39 | 39.00 | 83 | 46.99 | - | - | - | 3 | - | 39 |
| 10 | B Whaley | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 8* | 17.00 | 15 | 113.33 | - | - | - | 3 | - | 17 |
| 11 | L Murray | 4 | 2 | - | 8 | 4 | 4.00 | 26 | 30.77 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 8 |
IRELAND BOWLING
| # | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O Riley | 5 | 45 | 1 | 244 | 9 | 3-52 | 27.11 | 5.42 | 30.00 | - | 12 | - |
| 2 | R Wilson | 5 | 46.5 | 2 | 249 | 8 | 3-50 | 31.12 | 5.32 | 35.12 | - | 13 | 3 |
| 3 | L Murray | 4 | 34.4 | 1 | 167 | 4 | 2-37 | 41.75 | 4.82 | 52.00 | - | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | T Ford | 4 | 33 | 2 | 183 | 3 | 1-30 | 61.00 | 5.55 | 66.00 | - | 13 | - |
| 5 | A Leckey | 5 | 36 | - | 223 | 3 | 3-44 | 74.33 | 6.19 | 72.00 | - | 11 | - |
| 6 | S Haslett | 1 | 8 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 2-33 | 16.50 | 4.12 | 24.00 | - | - | - |
| 7 | J West | 5 | 18 | - | 98 | 2 | 2-24 | 49.00 | 5.44 | 54.00 | - | 1 | - |
| 8 | A Armstrong | 1 | 6 | - | 32 | - | 0-32 | - | 5.33 | - | - | - | - |
| 9 | F Manoj | 1 | 9 | - | 49 | - | 0-49 | - | 5.44 | - | - | - | 1 |
