Test Cricket is considered the purest form of cricket, which is played across five days with two innings for each team. It tests the skill of the batters and the bowlers to its fullest. Every country doesn’t have the right to play Test cricket. Only a full-member team of the ICC is provided the right to compete in Test Cricket. Ireland achieved Test playing rights on 22 June 2017, when they became a Full Member of the ICC. Before that, they were an associate member of ICC. As the period is too small, the history of the Ireland Cricket team in Test Cricket is not so rich. But with time Irish are expected to perform well in the longest format of the game, as they did in the shorter formats.
Team Records in Test Cricket:
Ireland played their maiden test match in 2018, becoming the 11th test nation. Since then, they have played 3 test matches against Pakistan, Afghanistan, and England. But they couldn’t succeed in defeating anyone of them.
| Opposition | Date | Result | Venue | Man of the Match |
| Pakistan | 11 May 2018 | Lost by 5 wickets | The Village, Dublin, Ireland | Kevin O’ Brien |
| Afghanistan | 15 March 2019 | Lost by 7 wickets | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India | Rahmat Shah |
| England | 24 July 2019 | Lost by 143 runs | Lord’s, London, England | Jack Leach |
Team Feats in Test Cricket:
Ireland didn’t win any of the test matches, which it has played. So the test history of the nation is not glorious. Ireland has tried to put up a fight in each game they have played in Test Cricket.
Most runs scored by Ireland in an inning:
The most runs scored by the Irish team in an inning is 339, which came against in their debut test match against Pakistan. The top 5 runs scored by the Irish team are listed below:
| Score | Opposition | Venue |
| 339 | Pakistan | The Village, Dublin, Ireland |
| 288 | Afghanistan | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India |
| 207 | England | Lord’s, London, England |
| 172 | Afghanistan | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India |
| 130 | Pakistan |
Most Individual Runs by Ireland Players:
Ireland legend Kevin O’Brien tops the list with 258 runs in the 3 matches. But the combined team effort didn’t come from the Ireland team, which cost them the test matches. Any other batsmen couldn’t cross the line of 200 runs in 3 games. The second most run came from Andrew Balbirnie, who scored 146 runs in the same number of matches. The top 5 run scorers from the Ireland team in Test cricket are listed below.
| Runs | Player Name | Matches Played |
| 258 | Kevin O’Brien | 3 |
| 146 | Andrew Balbirnie | 3 |
| 109 | Tim Murtagh | 3 |
| 104 | Paul Stirling | 3 |
| 73 | James McCollum | 2 |
It’s just a start for the Ireland Cricket team in Test Cricket. The beginning hasn’t been as expected by the Irish fans, but with the capabilities, which the team possesses, the fans can certainly expect some good cricket from the team in the future. Ireland has already come a long way by becoming only the second Full Member nation of the ICC after England. And it’s time for the Irish team to take their game a level up in the purest form of cricket.
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