Ireland to join big guns in one-day top tier cricket

Ireland will join the top tier of one day cricket after gaining approval from the International Cricket Council yesterday.

Ireland, along with Afghanistan will join the 10 full members in a rankings-based qualification system for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

As a result, Ireland will no longer participate in the ICC World Cricket League, but will continue to play in the four-day, first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup from 2015 to 2017. The top eight-ranked sides on the ICC ODI team rankings on September 30 2017 will qualify automatically to the 2019 event, while the bottom four will play in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 that will determine the final two teams in the line-up.