Northern Ireland national cricket team
The Northern Ireland national cricket team is a representative cricket team for Northern Ireland. It does not play in International Cricket Council (ICC) competitions, as Northern Ireland is part of Cricket Ireland and is represented by the Ireland cricket team. However, a standalone Northern Ireland team has been formed on a few occasions. History Cricket in Ireland is usually organised on an all-Ireland basis, with the national side representing both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, for the cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, a Northern Ireland team took part, as the Republic is not a member of the Commonwealth. It remains the only appearance of such a side in international cricket. The tournament started for Northern Ireland with a match against South Africa. Northern Ireland scored 89/5 before rain brought an end to their innings in the 39th over. A target of 131 from 38 overs was set using the Duckworth-Lewis method for South Africa, which they achieved in the 32nd over, Dale Benkenstein scoring 44 not out. Ryan Eagleson took 3/28 for the Northern Irish team. Their second match was against Barbados, and Barbados scored 296/5 from their 50 overs, Philo Wallace top scoring with