Cricket Ireland has included Ross Adair, Matt Foster, Fionn Hand, PJ Moor and Ben White in the 21 men’s player list of central contracts for the year 2024-25, going up from 14 offered last season. Simi Singh, the 37-year old spinner, who played his last international match in October 2022 has been left out of the contract list.
Meanwhile, for the first time, Cricket Ireland has offered 12 full-time contracts to its women cricketers. Christina Coulter Reilly, Abbi Harrison, Kia McCartney and Alice Tector have been handed Casual Contracts while Una Raymond-Hoey has been given a retainer contract.
In the Men’s category, Gavin Hoey, Matthew Humphreys, Tom Mayes and Liam McCarthy have been handed Retainer Contracts.
Casual Contracts offer 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. On the other hand, Retainer Contracts engage players for a specific number of days or specific series, with entitlements similar to casual contracts.
Additionally, six women players – Ava Canning, Georgina Dempsey, Sarah Forbes, Amy Hunter, Joanna Loughran and Aimee Maguire – have been handed Educational Contracts. These are designed to work around players who are at school full-time or studying at a tertiary level. Players on these contracts gain a significant living allowance to ensure they do not need to find a job during their education years, and can instead concentrate on their cricket. All these players will be available full-time in the summer holidays.
Speaking on the latest contract list, Ciara O’Brien, Women’s National Selector, said: “Women’s cricket continues to progress, and I am delighted that we have been able to increase the number of full-time contracts offered to a record 12 this year.
“We have a young but exceptionally talented cohort of players – although their average age is just over 21, it is a group of players who have built up a great deal of experience in the last few years.
“This year we are also welcoming the return of Una Raymond-Hoey to the Irish set-up on a retainer basis. Una, who has 15 caps for Ireland, has spent the last five years in Australia – playing cricket and rising through the ranks of representing Victoria, and being part of the Melbourne Stars squad in the Women’s Big Bash.”
Meanwhile, Andrew White, Men’s National Selector, added, “As our talent pool grows, so too does the challenge of selecting central contracts. With an increasing volume of cricket to play both home and away, our need to nurture and develop the talent to compete at the highest level becomes more acute and selecting the right mix of players to receive central contracts is one of the most consequential decisions we can make as an organisation. Our players are our assets, and we are constantly monitoring, reviewing and discussing the progress and performances of our players to ensure we have the best talent available to the head coach and captain.
“We welcome the recent news about Heinrich Malan’s contract extension and I look forward to continuing to work with him in shaping the direction and succession planning of the squad over the coming years.
“I congratulate the players receiving contracts in 2024 and look forward to seeing that steady progress and development of the last few years turn into regular success on the field of play.”
