Cricket Ireland has confirmed central contracts for 48 players across its senior men's and women's squads, setting the stage for one of the most ambitious summers in the organisation's history.

The men's programme features 25 contracts with 20 full-time and five retainer deals, while 23 contracts have been awarded across the women's squad, spanning across full-time, education, and casual categories.

Six players currently on education contracts are set to transition to full-time status during the year.

Seven Fresh Faces in the Men's Squad

Seven players make their first appearance on the men's central contract list. Five of them, including, Ben Calitz, Jordan Neil, Tom Mayes, Tim Tector and Cade Carmichael earned their places after making senior international debuts in 2025. Reuben Wilson and Matthew Hollard round out the new additions.

Five players from last year's list have not been retained. Paul Stirling continues as ODI captain, with Andrew Balbirnie leading the side in Test cricket. Stirling recently stepped down as the T20I captain and the cricket board will soon name the man to lead the team in the shortest format.

Women's Squad Eyes T20 World Cup

No new players have been added to the women's contract list, though Sophie MacMahon's retirement and Freya Sargent's decision to step away from international cricket will mean that two familiar faces will be absent. 

Gaby Lewis remains at the helm as ODI and T20I captain.

The most striking development on the women's side is the commitment shown by several players on education contracts, who have chosen to defer their studies and work placements to go full-time ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year. Ava Canning, Christina Coulter Reilly, Amy Hunter, Louise Little,and Rebecca Stokell are among those making the switch from educational to full-year contracts in 2026.

A critical window for Irish Cricket

Graeme West, Director of High Performance at Cricket Ireland, described the contracts as essential infrastructure for the year ahead.

"The central contracts are a critical component of the development of our senior squads," West said, highlighting that the senior men’s will play all three formats this summer while the women compete across both white-ball formats, with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup representing the pinnacle of their schedule.

West acknowledged the difficulty of releasing players who have made personal sacrifices for the programme, while expressing confidence that the newly contracted players are ready to make their mark.

"With a number of the newly contracted players already tasting international cricket, the onus is on the players to establish their places and produce performances that will be impactful across all three formats," he said, adding that the quality of opposition Ireland will face over the next twelve months will only accelerate the group's development ahead of ICC and Olympic qualifying events in 2027-28

Ireland Men - central contracts 2026-27

Mark Adair

Ross Adair

Andrew Balbirnie - Test captain

Ben Calitz

Curtis Campher

Cade Carmichael

Gareth Delany

George Dockrell

Stephen Doheny

Gavin Hoey

Matthew Hollard***

Matthew Humphreys

Joshua Little

Tom Mayes***

Andy McBrine

Barry McCarthy

Liam McCarthy

Jordan Neil

Paul Stirling - ODI captain

Harry Tector

Tim Tector***

Lorcan Tucker

Ben White***

Reuben Wilson**

Craig Young

Ireland Women - central contracts 2026-27

Ava Canning****

Christina Coulter Reilly****

Alana Dalzell

Georgina Dempsey**

Laura Delany

Sarah Forbes**

Abbi Harrison*

Amy Hunter****

Jennifer Jackson*

Arlene Kelly

Gaby Lewis - ODI and T20I captain

Louise Little****

Joanna Loughran*

Aimee Maguire**

Jane Maguire

Lara McBride***

Kia McCartney*

Ellie McGee*

Cara Murray

Leah Paul

Orla Prendergast

Rebecca Stokell****

Alice Tector**

* Casual contract

** Educational contract

***Retainer contract

**** Moving from educational to full-year contracts in 2026