The last weekend in July will mark a significant milestone in the history of the Northern Cricket Union when Stormont plays host to a test match.The Ireland v Zimbabwe men’s test match will be played at the Belfast venue from 25-29 July 2024 and will become the first Test match to be staged in Northern Ireland. This marks a new milestone in the evolution of cricket within the Northern Cricket Union.
Many people from across the NCU cricket community have been in touch with us in recent weeks to seek clarification on matches which have been planned for the weekend of the Test match. As a union we are keen to recognise the significance of the event and to afford people from across the union the best possible opportunity to attend the Test. We have therefore taken the decision to encourage attendance at the match by taking the following approach to matches which have been scheduled for that weekend.
Open Premier League – this weekend was scheduled to be the first round of fixtures in the post-split phase. This will now be a free weekend and the post split fixtures will commence on the weekend following.
Open Senior League 1 – Fixtures scheduled for this weekend will be postponed and will now be played on Sunday 11 August 2024.
Open Senior League 2 – Fixtures scheduled for this weekend will be postponed and will now take place in the week following (3 and 4 August 2024). This will mean that the post-split fixtures will commence on Saturday 10 August 2024. Clubs are reminded that the matches in question (the last matches of the pre-split phase) will have to be completed by 6 August 2024 to facilitate arrangements for the post split fixtures.
Open Junior League 1 – Fixtures scheduled for this weekend will be postponed. Captains are asked to re-arrange the matches as a match 1 before the end of August 2024.
Women’s Premier League – matches scheduled for Sunday 28 July 2024 will proceed as scheduled as the matches are early enough in the day to allow participants to attend the test match.
Open Junior League matches (leagues 2 to 11) – should either one of the teams in any match scheduled for the days of the test wish the match to be postponed this will be allowed by the competition secretaries. The teams concerned must advise the competition secretary by the end of June 2024 in order for the postponement to be granted. Any matches postponed should be arranged as a match one for a date before the end of August 2024 and the competition secretary advised of that date when requesting the postponement of the match.
Further, the GMcG Junior Cup Final, originally scheduled for Saturday 27 July 2024, will now take place on the following Saturday, 3 August 2024 at Bangor CC.
Given the late changes to the cricketing calendar to accommodate the Test match and various interprovincial games, there is also a requirement to change the dates of a number of our cup finals. We can advise the following dates have been amended:
Gallagher Women’s Challenge Cup Final – This will now take place on Sunday 4 August 2024 at Lisburn Cricket Club.
LVS T20 Finals Day (Cup and Trophy) – This will now take place on Sunday 21 July 2024 at Waringstown Cricket Club.
A reminder that tickets for the Test match can be purchased via the following link Ireland Men v Zimbabwe Test Match | Tickets On Sale Now (cricketireland.ie)
https://cricketireland.ie/tickets/tickets-ni/