| Northern Knights | |
| Captain: | Mark Adair |
| Coach: | Simon Johnston |
| Founded: | 2013 |
| Ground: | Stormont Cricket Ground, Belfast |
| Capacity: | 7,000 |
| Colors: | Navy and Red |
| Owner: | Northern Cricket Union of Ireland |
| Title1: | Inter-Provincial Championship |
| Title1wins: | 0 |
| Title2: | Interprovincial One-Day Trophy |
| Title2wins: | 2 |
| Title3: | Interprovincial Twenty20 Cup |
| Title3wins: | 1 |
Northern Knights is a first-class inter-provincial cricket team in Ireland.
The team participates in the Inter-Provincial Championship, Interprovincial One-Day Trophy & Interprovincial Twenty20 Cup.
The team represents the Northern Cricket Union of Ireland, which in turn covers most of eastern and southern Ulster and parts of western Ulster.
In 2013, Cricket Ireland formed a three-day Championship, 50 over Cup and 20 over Trophy featuring teams from Leinster, the North and the North West. The NCU team would be known as the Northern Knights. On 8 April, they announced Eugene Moleon as their coach and Gavin Rogers as his assistant coach.[1]
The Knights lifted their first trophy, the Inter-Provincial Cup, in that debut season. A surprise final day victory by the North West Warriors over Leinster Lightning ensured the Knights won the title by a single point.[2]
Up to and including the 2016 Inter-Provincial Championship, the matches were not given first-class status. However, at an International Cricket Council meeting in October 2016, first-class status was awarded to all future matches.[3] [4]
In January 2016 Simon Johnston, then head of Waringstown Cricket Club, was appointed head coach of the team, replacing Eugene Moleon.[5]
In would be 2019 before the Knights silverware drought came to an end. The team won 3 of their 6 Inter-Provincial Trophy games in a rain-affected season which was enough for captain Gary Wilson to lift the trophy.[6]
Following Wilson's retirement, Harry Tector took over captaincy duties for the 2021 season.[7] He was succeeded by Mark Adair in 2022.[8]
2023 was the most successful year in the team's history as they completed a List A and T20 double.[9]
Inter-Provincial Cup - (List A) - 2 titles
Inter-Provincial Trophy - (T20) - 1 title
Winners: 2023
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Club | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | |||||||
| Paul Stirling | 3 September 1990 | Right-handed | Right arm off-break | North Down | |||
| James McCollum | 1 August 1995 | Right-handed | Right arm medium | Waringstown | Vice-captain | ||
| Ross Adair | 21 April 1994 | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | CIYMS | |||
| 25 March 1999 | Right-handed | ||||||
| 22 July 1997 | - | - | |||||
| Cade Carmichael | 3 August 2002 | Right-handed | Right arm medium | Instonians | |||
| Jason van der Merwe | 28 December 1991 | Right-handed | - | CIYMS | |||
| Jake Egan | 20 June 2003 | Right-handed | Right arm off-break | Carrickfergus | |||
| All-rounders | |||||||
| Mark Adair | 27 March 1996 | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | CIYMS | Captain | ||
| Tyron Koen | 25 October 1997 | Left-handed | Right arm medium-fast | ||||
| Ruhan Pretorious | 2 March 1991 | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | Woodvale | |||
| Wicket-keepers | |||||||
| 24 September 2000 | Left-handed | - | |||||
| Bowlers | |||||||
| Tom Mayes | 4 January 2001 | Right-handed | North Down | ||||
| Josh Manley | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | Lisburn | Loaned out to Munster Reds[10] | |||
| 15 January 2000 | Right-handed | ||||||
| Matthew Humphreys | 28 September 2002 | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | Lisburn | |||
| Theo van Woerkom | 26 July 1993 | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | CIYMS | |||
| 11 August 1995 | Right-handed | ||||||
| Cian Robertson | 19 September 2002 | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | Instonians | Transferred to North West Warriors[11] | ||
| Source:[12] | |||||||