Cricket Ireland Strives to Make Euro Nations Cup 2027 A Reality - Report

Cricket Ireland is pushing for a 'Euro Nations Cup' tournament, which will be on similar lines to the Asia Cup, featuring teams like England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Cricket Ireland's CEO, Brian MacNeice, is hopeful that the tournament could go on floors as early as 2007.

This is a passion project for MacNeice and he even proposed the idea of this tournament to the ECB officials during England's tour to Ireland last year. However, according to ESPN Cricinfo, the English Cricket board was not a part of recent discussions around the proposed event.

"I've had this on the table for discussion with various stakeholders for quite some time," MacNeice said on Friday, while launching Ireland's home international fixtures for 2026. "It's something that I'm very passionate about and that I fundamentally believe in.

"The conversations have now developed and evolved to a point that I'm much more confident that it is going to happen… There's multiple stakeholders that will be part of that in due course, but I would anticipate that it will kick off in the summer of '27, and the precise format and detail of it will be announced in due course - I would expect in the next couple of months.

As per reports, the discussions between relevant stakeholders to make this event a reality has been going on in full swing. The tournament will be held in both men's and women's categories and will happen most likely in the T20 format.

"There's ongoing discussions with various different stakeholders and parties associated with it… To be clear from the outset, that's a men's and women's event. It's a little bit early from a broadcaster perspective to be going out until it's all locked in, but we anticipate that there will be broadcast appetite for it."

Ireland have recently come into long-term arrangements with Emirates Cricket Board and Cricket Association of Nepal, according to which they'll play white-ball series against both these nations regularly. They have also struck a deal with ILT20 franchises, where at least one Irish player will be signed by each franchise from 2026-27 onwards.