Stormont upgrade could deliver T20 World Cup matches
Cricket Ireland have confirmed a £1m investment to the Northern Ireland Civil Service Sports Association site in Belfast with the hope that the upgrades could deliver matches during the 2030 T20 World Cup.The package is part of a joint venture that will help deliver phase one of the NICSSA's Future Master Plan with the hope to transform the Stormont venue into a fit-for-purpose ground with permanent infrastructure including seating and broadcast facilities.Ireland beat Zimbabwe in the first Test to be staged at Stormont in July. "The NICSSA Sports Precinct is a fundamentally important venue for Irish cricket, it not only features one of our leading international grounds but provides crucial space for community and domestic representative cricket to take place," said Brian MacNeice, Chair of Cricket Ireland."The Stormont Cricket Ground holds a great fondness for Irish fans for the many international matches it has held over the years – most notably the Test match last year against Zimbabwe."Numerous reports over the years have highlighted that there is a lack of quality training and playing facilities on the island of Ireland. We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make major in-roads into resolving these issues."Also planned are five new hybrid pitches - three at Stormont and two in Lisburn - with high-quality indoor and outdoor training spaces to help broaden widen cricket participation numbers, while also providing training and match facilities for international and domestic cricket. The plans sit alongside the Cricket in Ireland Strategic Plan 2024–2027 and the Cricket Ireland Facilities Strategy, with additional expenditure pledged to support men's cricket this season in order to offset the European T20 Premier League's deferral to 2026."If you consider this project, the new stadium at Abbottstown and our direct support for facilities upgrade proposals at Bready and Malahide, we are demonstrating our resolve to tackle the facilities and infrastructure deficits in a substantial manner," added MacNeice.
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