About Us

Dougie Goodwin will be forever paired with another of our Hall of Famers, Alec O’Riordan, as the duo who demolished the West Indies for 25 at Sion Mills in 1969. Goodwin bowled brilliantly in helpful conditions to return figures of 12.3-8-6-5, and took two more wickets for one run in the second innings.

It was no flash in the pan, Goodwin’s career spanning 43 matches from 1965-75, in which he took 115 wickets. He took 5-68 against Australia in 1968, and captained Ireland 19 times, with seven wins and just four defeats.

Alec O’Riordan was one of Ireland’s greatest all-rounders, an accurate left-arm paceman and hard-hitting middle-order bat. He was first capped at 18, captained Ireland at 21, and was still playing into his late 30s.

In 72 matches he scored 2,018 runs, including three centuries and took 206 wickets, with a best of 8-60 v the Netherlands.

He was reputed to have been offered terms by every county except Yorkshire, and Australian legend Alan Davidson said if he had been born there he would have played for Australia.

Stephen Warke, the son of a distinguished international, was first capped aged 21. He spent 15 years in the Ireland team, playing a then record 114 times, becoming the first player to score 4,000 runs. He scored four centuries in his 4,275 runs, the highest of which was 144no against Scotland in Castle Avenue in 1985.

A stylish opening batsman with Woodvale, he scored all around the ground and possessed a solid defence. He captained Ireland 39 times, missing the 1994 ICC Trophy when he broke an elbow in the warm-up for the first match.

Ivan Anderson was part of the all-powerful Waringstown team of the 1970s, the supreme batsman who transferred his ability to the international stage. He played 86 times for Ireland from 1966-85, scoring 3,777 runs. That total was a record for time, as was his seven centuries. They have been overtaken in the professional era, but his two centuries in a match (against Scotland in 1976) is still a unique feat in Irish cricket history. His unbeaten 198 against Canada in 1973 was the highest innings until Eoin Morgan passed it in 2007.

A useful spin-bowler, he took 48 wickets, including 5-21 v Scotland in 1974.

Ossie Colhoun was just 20 when he won his first cap against Lancashire in 1959 and rarely missed a game over the next twenty years, ending with 87 caps and 190 dismissals, the record until Niall O’Brien passed it in his 184^th match in 2016.

A stalwart of the Sion Mills club he was a fearless keeper, standing up to most bowlers and lethal down the leg side. One of his lasting achievements was to be one of the few wicket keepers to stump Len Hutton in a first-class match.

Seasoned observers insist Colhoun is still the greatest wicket-keeper to play for his country.

Robert Torrens, known to all as ‘Roy’, won just 30 caps for Ireland. That may seem a negligible total in these days of up to 50 games a year. But his service lasted 18 long years as Ireland moved from a more genteel era into the age of competitive cricket.

From his 4-77 debut as a callow schoolboy, to the last of his 77 wickets, Roy never gave less than his best. A whole-hearted player became a whole-hearted administrator and he continued to serve the game in Ireland as a selector, as president and manager of the senior men at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups.   

His death during Covid pandemic saw an outpouring of grief among the cricket community and tributes from all over the world.

Gerry Duffy was a titanic figure in Leinster cricket for half a century, and had some special days with Ireland too. In 1961, against Richie Benaud’s Australians, he took 6-29 as the tourists collapsed from 143-3 to 209 all out. In the famous 1969 win at Sion Mills, he took two stunning gully catches and took 2-12. In all he took 82 wickets for Ireland, and 944 for his club. He made over 1,100 runs for Ireland and over 10,000 for Leinster. He was a brilliant coach too, overseeing the Joyces in a vital stage of their development at Merrion.

Brendan O’Brien may be better known as father of Niall and Kevin, but he was a worthy recipient of the Hall of Fame in his own right. A true all-round sportsman – he played international cricket, League of Ireland football and interpro hockey. For Railway Union he scored more and 21,000 runs, the record by a distance. A free-scoring batsman, he made 1,636 runs, scoring nine 50s in his 52 appearances – a figure dwarfed by the 757 caps won by his cricketing sons and hockey-playing daughter Ciara.

Michael Halliday was a top-class off-break bowler who took 192 wickets from 1970 to 1989. First capped as a student in Trinity, he bowled for much of his first decade in the team in tandem with Dermott Monteith. His performance in Ireland’s first competitive game – a NatWest tie against Middlesex at Lord’s in 1980 – was his finest hour. Defending a mere 102, he took 4-22 off his 12 overs, including the scalps of test stars Mike Gatting, Mike Brearley, Clive Radley and Roland Butcher, as Ireland rattled the county. ‘The best exhibition of off-spin I have seen for quite a while,’ said Jim Laker.

His captaincy was notable for 17 successive lost tosses!

Simon Corlett was born in Malawi but came out of Africa, via Oxford University, to spearhead the Ireland attack for many years. He won 73 caps, a virtual ever present over 14 seasons when fixtures were thin on the ground.

His elegant action and genuine pace troubled many visiting batsmen, most notably a top Surrey side in 1978 when he took 7-44. He ended his Ireland career with 233 wickets, and for many years was a leading figure in the NCU with North of Ireland CC.

Jack Short was an elegant batsman who scored freely from the top of the order. He made 2,515 runs in 56 appearances from 1974-84, when he retired early to take up a post in Paris. Born in Cork, he played for Bohemians until moving to Dublin in 1984, joining the Leinster club. He made his debut that summer, scoring 71 and 55 against Netherlands.

He made three centuries but his 99 against Sussex in Pagham in 1977 helped Ireland to a first victory over an English county. And he was 80no, having survived the fiery Jeff Thomson and Len Pascoe, when Dermott Monteith declared against Australia in 1977.

Mohammed Afzal ‘Alf’ Masood was 30 when he played the first of his 40 matches for Ireland, ten years after his career in Pakistan fizzled out – he scored two centuries in a U19 match against an England side including Bob Willis – and he emigrated to Northampton, then Dublin. He made quite a bang on the Leinster scene when he joined Phoenix, setting several records. He made almost 10,000 runs in club cricket at a career average of 51.22.

From 1982-88 he made four centuries for Ireland, including the first against a county side. In all he scored 1,940 runs, at an average of  38.80, second only to Ed Joyce.

Paul Jackson kept wicket from 1981-94, winning plaudits for his glovework – “He was way up there with the best, top drawer”, insists Alan Lewis. He was 21 on debut, and played 87 games in all. His positioning and tidy glovework drew wide approval – he kept for 123 overs against Scotland in 1990 without conceding a bye. He took 103 catches and 30 stumpings. He was a useless batsman too, capping his Ireland record with an unbeaten 89 at Welshpool in 1987. He was captain that day, but his time at the helm was not successful, Ireland winning just one out of 25.

Mary-Pat Moore was Ireland Women’s first captain in 1983, and went on to lead the side 31 times.over the next decade, including the 1988 and 1993 World Cups. She played 37 ODIs, and ten other capped matches, scoring 988 runs. She was the first woman ever to be dismissed for 99 in an ODI, against Denmark. And her solitary century, an unbeaten 114, came against the same opponents in the 1995 European Cup. A right armed bat and spin bowler, she also took 20 wickets for Ireland, with a best of 3-16 against the Netherlands. In the late 80s she moved to work in Leeds, and played county cricket for Yorkshire and the North of England in the first-class regional tournament.

Miriam Grealey played for Ireland 80 times over 18 years, 79 ODIs and the single test against Pakistan. She is widely seen as one of Ireland’s greatest all-rounders up to the modern era, springing on the scene in her debut interpro for South Leinster with 5-21 against her native Ulster. She soon won her first cap and represented Ireland with distinction, captaining on 34 occasions. She made her only century against Pakistan in an ODI at Rush in 2000, but also made a battling 62 against Australia at College Park. In all she scored 1,428 runs and took 38 wickets.

Garfield Harrison was one of four Waringstown brothers to play for Ireland, and the most capped with 118. He was a bowling all-rounder whose finest display was 9-113 against Scotland in Myreside in 1990. They were the best first-class bowling figures recorded in the world that year. He is the only man to take nine wickets and also score a century – against the same opposition in Hamilton Crescent four years later. He began his Irish career as an opening bowler but became a brilliant off-spinner, taking 140 wickets, as well as scoring 2,765 runs.

Few people have made a greater contribution to cricket in Ireland, both on and off the field, than Alan. After a towering schoolboy career he was part off a YMCA team that went from a struggling club to 17 senior trophies in an eight year span from 1986-1994. In all he made 529 appearances, taking 498 wickets and making 15,046 runs.

The Irish selectors called him up just after his 20th birthday and he was still there 13 years and a then-record 121 caps later. As an all-rounder he scored 3,579 runs and took 51 wickets, and captained Ireland 35 times.

Since retiring he has been a board member of Cricket Ireland and become an insightful commentator on the game.

Susan terrified batters at home and abroad during her decade at the top. She came into the dominant Clontarf team in her mid-teens and quickly assumed the mantle of the great Stella Owens. She won the Harrison Cup ten times as the leading bowler in Leinster, and in 33 inter-pros, she took 61 wickets at an amazing average of 8.37.

Susan was first capped by Ireland as an 18 year old winning 40 caps - taking 52 wkts at an average of 16.33. Her best return was 7-21 against Netherlands in a 3-day game in 1987, in which she also took 5-35. She also too 5-27 v Denmark in 1990 - all three are still in the best ten performances for Ireland. Her ODI economy rate of 2.15 is still the eighth best of all time, standing beside the best of Australia, England and New Zealand.

Peter, known by his team-mates as 'Polish' retired in 2007 as Ireland’s most capped player at the time – 124 games from 1995 until just after the World Cup in the Caribbean.

First picked as a fast bowler, he found his feet as a middle-order batter, making 2,774 runs at an average of 27.47.

But those figures do not reflect some important innings - one such came at the Lawn in 1998, when his 94 drove Ireland to a notable win over Bangladesh, and his 47-ball century at Bangor in 2005 is still the fastest for Ireland. In 2007, Adi Birrell described him as the "heartbeat of the team”.

Caitriona played 66 times for Ireland Women from 1995 to 2008, scoring 1,450 runs at 27.88, including nine fifties.

She played her first women’s league match aged 8, and was on the Leinster Under-19s squad at age 11. A top-order batter, Caitriona played in three World Cups - her 68 against Pakistan is also the highest score by an Irishwoman in Test cricket.

She was top-scorer against England in 2001, when her 35 helped Ireland to a memorable win in the European Championship, and when the ICC unveiled their ODI world rankings in 2008 she was the only player from an Associate nation to make the top 20.

Jimmy is probably the greatest spin bowler Ireland has produced. First capped as a schoolboy in 1929, he soon became a key member of the Irish side and enjoyed a 25-year international career interrupted only by the Second World War.

He won sixty caps for Ireland, and took 307 wickets, averaging 15.26, including 31 five-fors and 10 wickets in a match on 7 occasions. His best bowling, 7-13, was against New Zealand at Rathmines.

After retirement he became an Irish selector and served as Hon Secretary of the Irish Cricket Union for more than 20 years.

Angus began his career with YMCA at 15 in 1982 and finished at senior level in 2016 with 12,532 runs and 314 wickets. He made his Ireland debut in 1990, making 69 on debut v MCC and another 50 against Scotland that summer.

After struggling with form during the next few years, in 1996 he found his feet. He scored 99 and 94 against Wales, and the 148 against MCC. That was the first of his four centuries for Ireland (his most memorable was against a South African attack that included Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock). He was an all-rounder in the early part of his career, taking 5 for 26 on debut, but never bowled after 1995. He was appointed captain in 1998 and led his country on 40 occasions. He retired in 2000 and signed off with his fourth century.

Barbara was born in Waterford, but helped form Malahide Cricket Club back in 1988 - quickly proving herself to be the outstanding seam bowler of her generation.

She played for Ireland Under-19s before winning her first senior cap in 1993 aged 21 against Netherlands. By 1996 she had become a senior team regular and won sixty caps in the following decade.

Barbara saved some of her best performances for the biggest games, taking 3 for 17 against South Africa, 4 for 8 against Pakistan and 4 for 13 against West Indies. She played in three World Cups and took 63 wickets at less than three runs an over.

Dermott was 22 when first picked, as a batsman, for Ireland. He made 54, becoming the first Irish debutant to make a first-innings fifty at Lord’s.

He took 326 wickets - still the most taken by an Ireland bowler – his best of 8-44 also came at Lord’s, against MCC, but he had a phenomenal 27 five-wicket hauls. He played for Middlesex during two seasons - winning a championship title. In so doing he showed Irish club players that they were capable of playing in England and a new wave of youngsters won trials and contracts in the years following.

Dermott became an Ireland selector and was President of the Irish Cricket Union in 1999. 

Andre came to Ireland as a teenager from South Africa, and had a successful career in Leinster cricket. He secured his qualification to play for Ireland in 2001 and went on to play 141 times for Ireland, scoring 3,606 runs at 27.74 and taking 176 wickets at 21.99 - retiring after the 2011 World Cup.

He holds the Irish record partnership for any wicket of 360 shared with Eoin Morgan. His finest hour arguably came with the ball, his stunning spell of eight overs, four maidens, 2 for 5 playing a huge part in Ireland’s famous win over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup.

When he retired from club cricket he had the record 25 centuries in 313 games, as well as 12,000 runs and 464 wickets. 

Stella sprang to prominence at the age of 11 when she won the player of the match award in the Leinster Women’s Senior Cup final, the first of many trophies she won with Clontarf. As there was no girls cricket at the time she played on the boys sides and became such a feared opponent that a rule was introduced banning mixed sides – she was the only girl playing at the time.

She was an exceptional fast bowler and was 17 years old when Ireland played their first international back in 1983. She took Ireland’s very first wicket and ended with 11 overs 6 maidens 1 for 8. For several seasons she was one of the most feared bowlers in women's world cricket.

While her career was hampered by injuries however and she played just 35 matches over the next decade, reinventing herself as a fluent batter who could tear an attack apart.

Bob's career for Ireland spanned an incredible 38 summers - first capped in 1893, retiring in 1930.

He played 51 times for Ireland, scoring almost 2,000 runs and taking 173 wickets. His performances for Ireland caught the eye of Dr WG Grace who invited him to play for London County, the Doctor describing his batting as “perfection”.

Across all matches, Bob scored an estimated 37,000 runs and 101 centuries. He went on to serve as President of the Irish Cricket Union as well as fathering two international players.