Cricket Ireland has officially opened Phase One of a world-class high-performance training center at the Sports Ireland National Sports Campus in west Dublin.
ICC invests into the future of Irish cricket through the support of facility development
Five artificial and 16 grass practice wickets installed, as well as a 3000m square grass covered fielding practice area.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson attended the official opening of the new world-leading Cricket Ireland High Performance Centre today in Dublin, with the International Cricket Council making significant investment into the future of Irish cricket.
The €700,000 training centre which is at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus is phase one of the project that includes five artificial and 16 grass practice wickets, a 3000m square grass covered fielding practice area and world-leading bowling machine technology.
The ICC has worked in partnership since 2013 with Cricket Ireland supporting the project with $450,000 of investment through the ICC Development Programme Facilities Fund, a fund which has provided Associate Members support to develop top class facilities. This is the final project in the programme which had supported the Emirates Cricket Board, Cricket Finland and Cricket PNG with ICC investment to develop facilities.
David Richardson attended the opening event in Dublin alongside Cricket Ireland Chairman, Ross McCollum; Brendan Griffin TD Minister of State for Tourism and Sport; Kieran Mulvey, Chair of Sport Ireland and Cllr Anthony Lavin, Mayor of Fingal.
ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson, said: “The development of the Cricket Ireland High Performance Centre is another important milestone in Ireland’s impressive journey as a Member. It will provide significant support for the further progression of the sport and the development of young talent.
Cricket Ireland Chairman, Ross McCollum, spoke at the opening said: “We’re delighted to be opening Phase One of a truly world-class training facility – an asset that will benefit this and future generations of cricketers across Ireland.
“The design of this facility has been developed through significant research of the world’s best cricket training facilities by our coaches and performance staff. Not only does this make the High Performance Centre leading-edge, but its co-location with the Sport Ireland Institute’s high performance gyms and testing facilities makes this the envy of cricketing nations around the world.
Phase Two, which is hoped to be completed by 2020, will feature a dedicated building incorporating changing facilities, coaches zone, meeting spaces, performance analysis area, and a player zone; an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) clear roof canopy over the turf wickets – which will be a world-first in cricket – which will allow players to practice on grass including their run-ups throughout wet weather as well as controlling climate, pitch moisture and ground conditions.
