The Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the RSA Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup is a 50-over cricket competition for Irish amateur clubs. It is the most important knock-out cricket club competition in Ireland, is organised by Cricket Ireland and comprises the top teams from each of Ireland's four active provincial unions (Leinster, Munster, NCU and North West). Connacht Cricket Union, the youngest, smallest and weakest provincial union, do not enter teams in their own right, but County Galway CC enters as a member club in Munster.
It was sponsored initially by Schweppes and then Royal Liver,[1] and the current sponsor is RSA. It was renamed in honour of Bob Kerr, who died at the 2007 Cricket World Cup.[2] [3]
Matches are of 50-overs duration, though this may be reduced to as few as ten overs per side where delays or interruptions necessitate.[4]
Each team must contain not less than nine players fully eligible to play for Ireland in all competitions.
Waringstown are the most successful club in the competition with 6 wins. Leinster Cricket Club are the defending champions, having defeated Waringstown by 48 runs in the 2023 final.[5]
| Team | Wins | Runners-up | Total Finals | Last Win | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waringstown | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2018 | |
| North County | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2008 | |
| Limavady | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2004 | |
| North Down | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1995 | |
| Lurgan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1990 | |
| Merrion | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2016 | |
| Brigade | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1999 | |
| Leinster | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2023 | |
| The Hills | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2014 | |
| Downpatrick | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1991 | |
| Donemana | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2000 | |
| Railway Union | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2006 | |
| North of Ireland | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1982 | |
| Strabane | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1998 | |
| CIYMS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2022 | |
| Malahide | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2002 | |
| Clontarf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2013 | |
| Pembroke | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2019 | |
| Phoenix | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1986 | |
| St Johnston | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1987 | |
| Rush | 0 | 2 | 2 | N/A | |
| Ballymena | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | |
| Bready | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | |
| Cliftonville | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | |
| Instonians | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | |
| Lisburn | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A | |
| Sion Mills | 0 | 1 | 1 | N/A |
| Season | Winners | Runners-Up | Venue | Match Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | North of Ireland | Leinster | Rathmines, Dublin | North 91–4; Leinster 77–9 (S Corlett 4–26). North won by 14 runs. Match reduced to 30 overs per side. | |
| 1983 | Waringstown | North of Ireland | Ormeau, Belfast | Waringstown 190–8 (D Harrison 60); North 118 all out. Waringstown won by 72 runs. | |
| 1984 | Lurgan | Brigade | Rathmines, Dublin | Lurgan 257–6 (Rahul Mankad 130, P McCrum 56); Brigade 170 all out. Lurgan won by 87 runs. | |
| 1985 | Downpatrick | North Down | width=180 | Strangford Road, Downpatrick | North Down 79 all out; Downpatrick 85–4.Downpatrick won by 6 wickets. |
| 1986 | Phoenix | Donemana | Rathmines, Dublin | Donemana 109 all out; Phoenix 110–1 (A Masood 51). Phoenix won by 9 wickets. | |
| 1987 | St Johnston | Brigade | Beechgrove, Derry | Brigade 93 all out; St Johnston 94–3. St Johnston won by 7 wickets. | |
| 1988 | Lurgan | North Down | Rathmines, Dublin | Lurgan 249–6 (G Hunter 100, S Kshirasgar 61); North Down 153 all out. Lurgan won by 96 runs. | |
| 1989 | North Down | Donemana | Rathmines, Dublin | Donemana 101 all out; North Down 102–6. North Down won by 4 wickets. |
| Season | Winners | Runners-Up | Venue | Match Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Lurgan | Clontarf | Rathmines, Dublin | Lurgan 251–9 (R McCollum 91, D Neill 52); Clontarf 178 all out. Lurgan won by 73 runs. | |
| 1991 | Downpatrick | North of Ireland | The Green, Comber | Downpatrick 203–6 (K Merchant 60 no); North 200–8. Downpatrick won by 3 runs. | |
| 1992 | Waringstown | Sion Mills | Rathmines, Dublin | Waringstown 171–5; Sion Mills 122 all out. Waringstown won by 49 runs. | |
| 1993 | North Down | Brigade | Rathmines, Dublin | Brigade 155–9; North Down 156–3 (C McCrum 87). North Down won by 7 wickets. | |
| 1994 | Limavady | Strabane | Woodvale Road, Eglinton | Strabane 159 all out (P Gillespie 55; Limavady 160–6 (D Curry 111 no). Limavady won by 4 wickets. | |
| 1995 | North Down | Bready | The Green, Comber | North Down 227–3 (P McCrum 100 no, Robin Haire 64 no); Bready 226 all out (A Rutherford 70). North Down won by 1 run. | |
| 1996 | Brigade | Leinster | Rathmines, Dublin | Leinster 199–6 (JV Byrne 56, JE Byrne 53); Brigade 201–2 (C Jeffrey 84 no, Akram Raza 67). Brigade won by 8 wickets. | |
| 1997 | Limavady | Leinster | Beechgrove, Derry | Leinster 172–6 (T McDonnell 50); Limavady 174–0 (D Curry 102 no, D Cooke 64 no). Limavady won by 10 wickets. | |
| 1998 | Strabane | Ballymena | Beechgrove, Derry | Strabane 189–4; Ballymena 165 all out (Mark Gillespie 5–33). Strabane won by 24 runs. | |
| 1999 | Brigade | Limavady | Beechgrove, Derry | Limavady 162 all out; Brigade 163–6 (S Smyth 55). Brigade won by 4 wickets. |
| Season | Winners | Runners-Up | Venue | Match Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Donemana | Limavady | Beechgrove, Derry | Limavady 215–8 (50 overs G Harron 83 no); Donemana 219–7 (49.1 overs, W Porterfield 59) Donemana won by 3 wickets. | |
| 2001 | North County | Cliftonville | The Lawn, Waringstown | North County 272–7 (A Botha 66, J Mooney 61); Cliftonville 198–9 (K McCallan 60). North County won by 74 runs. | |
| 2002 | Malahide | Rush | Castle Avenue | Rush 148 all out; Malahide 149–6 (N Shaukat 4–26). Malahide won by 4 wickets. | |
| 2003 | North County | Railway Union | Castle Avenue | North County 217–7 (E Morgan 70); Railway Union 146 all out (C Mullen 58, P Mooney 4–19). North County won by 71 runs. | |
| 2004 | Limavady | Strabane | Woodvale Road, Eglinton | Limavady 198–6 (50 overs, I McGregor 89); Strabane 110 all out (42.1 overs). Limavady won by 88 runs. | |
| 2005 | North County | Railway Union | Castle Avenue | Railway Union 182–8 (50 overs A Murphy 80); North County 185–5 (44.2 overs J Mooney 57 no). North County won by 5 wickets. | |
| 2006 | Railway Union | Rush | Castle Avenue | Rush 206–7 (50 overs, S Iqbal 58); Railway Union 210–9 (43.2 overs A Murphy 50, N Mullen 4–32). Railway Union won by 1 wicket. | |
| 2007 | North County | The Hills | Castle Avenue | North County 259–8 (50 overs, A Botha 84); The Hills 154 all out (B Archer 52; R Lawrence 5–38). North County won by 105 runs.[6] | |
| 2008 | North County | Donemana | Strabane | North County 165–8 (Conor Armstrong 68; Junior McBrine 4–42); Donemana 112 all out. North County won by 43 runs.[7] | |
| 2009 | Leinster | Donemana | Milverton | Leinster 265–8 (50 overs A Scholtz 75, JP O'Dwyer 61); Donemana 238 all out (48.4 overs R Kee 61, A Shafique 55, R Miley 4–46). Leinster won by 27 runs. |
| Season | Winners | Runners-Up | Venue | Match Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Merrion | Railway Union | Balrothery | Railway Union 317–3 (50 overs Kevin O'Brien 76, Trent Johnston 71, T Fisher 69); Merrion 164–1 (26 overs Greg Clarence 80no, Dominick Joyce 72no). Merrion won by 36 runs. (Duckworth-Lewis par score: 128 in 26 overs)[8] | |
| 2011 | Waringstown | Instonians | The Green, Comber | Instonians 237–8 (50 overs Andrew White 76; Waringstown 125–2 (29 overs Simon Harrison 68). Waringstown won by 21 runs (Duckworth-Lewis).[9] | |
| 2012 | The Hills | Merrion | Castle Avenue | Merrion 153 (48 overs D Joyce 51, J Anderson 47; The Hills 154–2 (39.1 overs D Calder 64 not out). The Hills won by 8 wickets.[10] | |
| 2013 | Clontarf | Merrion | Malahide | Merrion 253-7 (50 overs, B Thompson 78, J Anderson 87, D Joyce 51no, Z van der Merwe 4-46) Clontarf 254-4 (49 overs, A Botha 42, A Poynter 102no, E Delany 42no, S Morrissey 2-58) Clontarf won by 6 wickets.[11] | |
| 2014 | The Hills | Clontarf | Castle Avenue | The Hills 239 (50 overs, N Pretorius 34, C McLoughlin 75, M Baumgart 62, Z Van Merwe 4-30, J Morrissey 2-30, P Ryan 3-54) Clontarf 230 (41 overs, B Coghlan 40, A Poynter 41, E Delany 41, A D'Arcy 51, M Sorensen 3-50, N Shoukat 3-40) The Hills won by 9 runs.[12] [13] | |
| 2015 | Waringstown | Merrion | The Lawn, Waringstown | Waringstown 276-7 (L Nelson 44, G Thompson 78, J de Villiers 31, K McCallan 30no, D Joyce 4-62) Merrion 169 (D Langford-Smith 70, M Lewis 52no, J de Villiers 4-24, G Kidd 2-44, K McCallan 3-30) Waringstown won by 107 runs.[14] | |
| 2016 | Merrion | Waringstown | Castle Avenue | Merrion 252-9 (J Anderson 109, D Joyce 67) Waringstown 196 (L Nelson 48, W von Behr 3-38) Merrion won by 51 runs.[15] | |
| 2017 | Waringstown | The Hills | Bready | The Hills 135 (M Donegan 40, M Sorensen 24no, H Shah 20; K McCallan 3/18, S Khan 2/14, P Eaglestone 2/21) Waringstown 136-6 (A Dennison 45, G Thompson 24no, J Hall 22; Yagoob Ali 4/25, R Cartwright 2/33) Waringstown won by 4 wickets.[16] | |
| 2018 | Waringstown | Merrion | Stormont | Waringstown 264-7 (J Hall 73, S Khan 71 not out; J Anderson 3-28) Merrion 179 (M Lewis 46; S Khan 2-23, G Kidd 2-35) Waringstown won by 85 runs.[17] | |
| 2019 | Pembroke | Waringstown | Milverton | Pembroke won by 135 runs.[18] |
| Season | Winners | Runners-Up | Venue | Match Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Not played | |||||
| 2021 | Not played | |||||
| 2022 | CIYMS | Lisburn | Bready | CIYMS 321-6 (50 overs; J Matchett 94, C Dougherty 93; N Whitworth 2-63) Lisburn 96 (26.2 overs; F Fazal 30; N Jones 3–15) CIYMS won by 225 runs[19] | ||
| 2023 | Leinster | Waringstown | The Lawn | Leinster 259-6 (50 overs; J Carroll 78, P Francis 74*; G Hume 2-35, B Snell 2-45) Waringstown 211 (45 overs; M Topping 110; P Francis 3-24, B Ashar 3-45 Leinster won by 48 runs | ||
| 2024 | Phoenix | Merrion | The Mardyke, Cork | Phoenix 211 (44.2 overs; T Kane | Tyrone Kane 44*, L Shields 40, P Francis 3-37 Merrion 210 (26.2 overs; S Harbinson 60, S Modgill 42, B White 5-34 Phoenix Cricket Club won by 1 run[20] | |
| Province | Wins | |
|---|---|---|
| Leinster | 17 | |
| NCU | 16 | |
| North West | 8 | |
| Connacht | 0 | |
| Munster | 0 |
| Wins | ||
|---|---|---|
| 23 | ||
| 18 |