Ireland’s win in the first T20I against India might have come as a shock to many, but the result isn’t that surprising if history is anything to go by. The Irish have always punched above their weight, and how can one forget their debut in the 2007 World Cup, where Ireland stunned Pakistan. Four years later, Kevin O’Brien played a knock for the ages as Ireland chased down more than 300 runs to defeat England at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, June 26 was probably a red-letter day in Irish cricket history, as the hosts defeated the reigning T20 World Cup 2026 champions, India, in Belfast.
The odds were heavily stacked against the side led by Lorcan Tucker. Firstly, India sent a full-strength team to Ireland for the two-match T20I series, and before the first match, the hosts lost six to eight players to injuries. However, Ireland has never been one to go down without a fight, and Tucker led from the front, hitting a half-century. He and Gareth Delany ensured that Ireland posted more than 180 runs on the board.
Debutants Jai Moondra and Matthew Hollard then stepped up with the ball for Ireland, and India only managed to post 148, losing the game by 34 runs. As soon as the final catch was taken by Tim Tector, the entire crowd of almost 5,000 people erupted at the Civil Service Cricket Club.
Only time will tell the ripple effect of this win, but the Cricket Ireland chair, Brian MacNeice, believes this win is the start of something special. He even believes that the victory would be great for the growth of the ETPL (European T20 Premier League), which gets underway this August. Speaking to Hindustan Times Digital a day after Ireland’s famous win, Brian opened up on the expectations from the European league and also the fanfare that youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is enjoying in Ireland right now.
Excerpts:
It must be surreal to see Ireland beating India. Has the feeling sunk in yet?
It’s a very significant moment in Irish cricket. It’s the first time that we’ve beaten India, and I think everybody thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. I’m particularly pleased for the players and for the coaches because they’ve put a lot of very hard work into it, and they don’t always get the benefit of that hard work, but yesterday was one of those days where it all came together and yeah, just really, really pleased for everybody who’s involved. It’s a real boost to Irish and to European cricket.
Ireland have always punched above their weight. Who can forget the win against Pakistan in 2007? What is the secret sauce behind the success story of Irish cricket?
We produce some very talented cricketers, and I know that if we provide them with greater exposure and more opportunities to play at the top level, they’ll show just how good they are. You saw that in the first T20I. We went into the first T20I with seven or eight of our frontline players injured. There were a number of debutants yesterday who performed really, really well, and what that tells us is that there is a lot of talent in Irish cricket.
If we continue to provide them with further opportunities more often to play against the best teams in the world, and we also expose them to playing with and against the best players in the world in the European T20 Premier League, all that will do is accelerate their growth and development, and you’ll see more days like yesterday from the Irish team.
I have to ask you about the wonder kid, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Have you ever seen such excitement in a 15-year-old? And is there palpable excitement about seeing the youngster make his debut in Ireland?
There’s a real excitement. Like, you know, it’s incredible talking to people. The excitement and buzz that it’s generated here, the very fact that he’s here and potentially could be making his debut in Ireland, has just kind of, really kind of lit the imagination of everybody who loves cricket here in Ireland. You know, he’s an unbelievable talent. And it would be a real honour and privilege to see him making his first steps in international cricket here. You know, we’re going to be watching him play international cricket for decades to come.
And so kind of seeing the start of that journey would be very, very special. And I think it would be, again, kind of another kind of landmark day for Irish cricket and the history of Irish cricket if he did make his debut tomorrow here in Ireland.
Do you think the win over India will give the European T20 league a perfect launchpad later this year?
I would sincerely hope so. The win in the first T20I proved that there are really high-quality cricketers in Ireland; the same is true in Scotland and the Netherlands, and, indeed, you saw what Italy did in the last T20 World Cup. So, there are some really, really top-class players right across Europe, and what the European T20 Premier League will do will showcase that talent, will provide a mechanism for the next generation of talent to come through and to develop and to grow, and we’ve also attracted some of the best players from around the world.
There’s a very international dimension to the franchise league, and that’s reflected in the ownership model. The founders of ETPL, the member boards and the owners of the franchises have all bought into a collective vision around the growth and development of the game across Europe, and I’m really, really excited about what ETPL is going to bring. I spent a bit of time going around the ground as the game is developing and speaking to some of the fans and talking to them about ETPL, and you could sense the excitement, and they want, they have an appetite to see more top-level international cricket, and they’re going to get that with ETPL.
Many Indian owners are also involved in the ETPL. How important is it to have Indian owners on board in an overseas league to increase popularity?
It’s important that ETPL has a platform to showcase the best players in Europe and, to some extent, in India, so having India’s involvement in the league is important, but we’ve gone further than that as well. Obviously, we’ve got, apart from say, Raul Dravid, who’s kind of the owner of the Dublin Guardians, we’ve got Steve Waugh, we’ve got Jonty Rhodes kind of in the ownership structure and then within the player groups, some of the players that have signed up for the franchises are some of the best players in the world and they’re really excited about coming to Europe and playing in the European League.
So I think what we want to do with ETPL is showcase the potential of European cricket so that everybody in India can see it, appreciate it, and get behind it. And indeed, I believe that a strong, growing European cricket ecosystem is good for the global game. There are more member nations in Europe than there are in any other region in the world. After Asia, in terms of fan followership and digital engagement, the European index is the second-highest. I fundamentally believe in the game’s potential for growth in Europe, and I think that is good for the game globally. A strong European cricket system will be really good for the global game and its strength and growth.
And so ETPL is a fundamental building block of that kind of strengthening of cricket in Europe, and I think it’s in everybody’s interest, therefore, to back it, to get behind it, to get excited about it. I’m incredibly excited about it. I know the founders are, the owners of the franchises are, the member boards are, the players are, and everybody is brought into the vision for what we’re creating, which is a long-term platform to grow the game in Europe, and that’s got to be exciting for everybody. So yeah, the more that we can expose it in India and beyond, the better.
What is the one thing that you are really looking forward to in the ETPL? What would be the biggest yardstick to assess the success of the first season of the tournament?
What I’m looking forward to is the quality of the cricket. There are great cricketers in each of the member countries who are at the heart of ETPL. The roster of players who have been signed up from an international base is fantastic. So what you’re going to see is really, really high-quality cricket. It’s going to be, in my opinion, after IPL, it’s going to be, the kind of the next best franchise league in terms of the quality of cricket that’s played.
And it’s going to give a platform for players that some people mightn’t be aware of. I’m aware of them. I know how good they are. And I think it’s going to help the rest of the world see how good some of the players in Europe are. And in particular, when they’re playing with and against some of the best players from around the world. So yeah, it’s just going to be, for me, that’s the thing that is going to be the biggest success factor here, the calibre and quality of cricket, because everything else will look after itself.
If we’ve got a high-quality cricket product, everything else looks after itself after that. And that is exactly what we’re going to get with ETPL. Because of the quality of the founders, the owners of the franchises, the players that have been signed up, and the emerging talent in European cricket. So I have no doubt whatsoever that the quality of the cricket will speak for itself. And once that happens, everything else follows from that.
