Cricket Ireland has announced its central playing contract list for a record 48 players ahead of their ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash against India in New York.
Cricket Ireland has offered full-time contracts to 12 female players for the first time in history.
The announcement comes after a long deliberation between Cricket Ireland and Irish Cricketers' Association. The talks between the two bodies focused mainly on the remuneration structure.
The board has handed two types of contracts to the male players i.e. Full-time and retainer. Notably, the retainer contract aims at engaging players for a "specific number of days or specific series" and includes benefits such as medical and healthcare insurance, sports science support (physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, psychology, performance analysis, nutrition and lifestyle management) among others.
On the other hand, there are four different types of contracts in the women's category - Full-time, Retainer, Casual and Education.
The Education contract is designed specifically for players who are either at "school full-time or studying at a tertiary level". This contract allows them to strike the right balance between their studies and cricket without having to worry about their finances.
On the other hand, the Casual contract offers the following perks to the players - a retainer throughout the summer holidays, loss of earnings for the remainder of the year, match fees, 12-month medical and healthcare insurance, sports science support (physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, psychology, performance analysis, nutrition and lifestyle management), specialist coaching support, and for ROI-based players, full access to the Sport Ireland Institute (as mentioned by Cricket Ireland).
Full-time contracts: Ireland Men
- Mark Adair (Lisburn/Northern Knights)
- Ross Adair (CIYMS/Northern Knights)
- Andrew Balbirnie (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Curtis Campher (Clontarf/Munster Reds)
- Gareth Delany (Leinster/Munster Reds)
- George Dockrell (Phoenix/Leinster Lightning)
- Stephen Doheny (Merrion/North West Warriors)
- Matthew Foster (CSNI/Northern Knights)
- Fionn Hand (Clontarf/Leinster Lightning)
- Graham Hume (Waringstown/North West Warriors)
- Josh Little (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Andy McBrine (Donemana/North West Warriors)
- Barry McCarthy (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- James McCollum (Waringstown/Northern Knights)
- PJ Moor (Clontarf/Munster Reds)
- Neil Rock (Instonians/Northern Knights)
- Paul Stirling (N/A/Northern Knights)
- Harry Tector (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Lorcan Tucker (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Ben White (Phoenix/Munster Reds)
- Craig Young (North Down/North West Warriors)
Retainer contracts
- Gavin Hoey (Pembroke/Leinster Lightning)
- Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn/Northern Knights)
- Tom Mayes (Waringstown/Northern Knights)
- Liam McCarthy (Railway Union/Munster Reds)
Full-time contracts: Ireland Women
- Alana Dalzell (Bready/Dragons)
- Laura Delany (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Arlene Kelly (Malahide/Dragons)
- Gaby Lewis (Phoenix/Scorchers)
- Louise Little (Pembroke/Dragons)
- Sophie MacMahon (Leinster/Scorchers)
- Jane Maguire (The Hills/Scorchers)
- Cara Murray (Waringstown/Clontarf/Dragons)
- Leah Paul (Merrion/Scorchers)
- Orla Prendergast (Pembroke/Dragons)
- Freya Sargent (Clontarf/Typhoons)
- Rebecca Stokell (Merrion/Typhoons)
Education contracts:
- Ava Canning (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Georgina Dempsey (Phoenix/Typhoons)
- Sarah Forbes (Pembroke/Typhoons)
- Amy Hunter (Instonians/Dragons)
- Joanna Loughran (Leinster/Typhoons)
- Aimee Maguire (The Hills/Scorchers)
Casual contracts:
- Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf/Scorchers)
- Abbi Harrison (Waringstown/Dragons)
- Kia McCartney (Coleraine/Dragons)
- Alice Tector (Phoenix/Scorchers)
Retainer contract:
Una Raymond-Hoey (Ringwood)
