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DUNDALK – Former Brigade cricketer, William Wilson has been confirmed as the new President of Cricket Ireland following today’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), replacing the outgoing David Griffin.
William was set to be announced as Vice-President, however, when presumptive President May Sharp had to withdraw for this year for personal reasons, he has stepped up into the President role for the next 12 months.

Winning two Irish Senior Cups as a player for Brigade Cricket Club, William began his cricket career with Foyle College at underage level. He went on to play for Creevedonnell Cricket Club in Derry/Londonderry, then moved on to Brigade Cricket Club in 1982, playing under the legendary Roy Torrens. He eventually replaced Roy as captain of the club following Roy’s retirement.

William was fortunate to have played in an incredible five Irish Senior Cup Finals, winning two of them – in 1996 against Leinster and 1999 against Limavady. He said:

“All those finals were very special to me and, of course, to Brigade Cricket Club.”

In 2001 William retired from the game as a player and became involved as a North West selector and as a Representative on the Irish Cricket Union’s Cricket Committee. He was appointed Irish Selector for the North West for the duration of Adrian Birrell’s tenure as Ireland Coach, and for two seasons with Phil Simmons.

After being announced as the new Cricket Ireland President William said:

“It’s obviously a great honour for me to become President of Cricket Ireland, representing both the North West Cricket Union and being the third member from my club, Brigade, to have that honour following the late David Todd and of course, more recently, the late Roy Torrens.

“I would also like to mention Mary Sharp, who unfortunately was not in a position to take on the role of President this year. I wish Mary well and hope to see her at some point during the season.”

What is he most looking forward to about his role as President over the next 12 months?

“I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to watch both our men’s and women’s teams during the course of the coming year and, of course, to meet and chat to representatives of the opposition during those matches.

“We have a very full calendar of cricket over the next 12 months with World Cup qualification very much to the forefront. I’m looking forward to a busy and hopefully successful year both on and off the field.”

The upcoming Test match against England at Lord’s in June will also be a highlight:

“I’m really looking forward to our visit to Lord’s in a few weeks’ time for the Test match. I was present in 2019 when we bowled England out for 85 in the first innings of our previous test match. Unfortunately, we lost the match in the end, but hopefully we can go one better this time.”

Craig Easdown
William Wilson
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