Sarah Keane begins tenure as Cricket Ireland CEO, first woman to lead ICC full member
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Image Courtesy - Cricket Ireland
After being named as CEO in October 2025 Sarah Keane began her role with Cricket Ireland this week becoming the first female CEO of an ICC full member nation. A very timely arrival given its Women in Sport Week, an initiative created by Sport Ireland to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March
The appointment marks a pivotal landmark in Irish and world cricket as Keane steps in with a proven track record of success.
Keane joins from Swim Ireland, where she has served as CEO since 2004, overseeing one of the most transformative eras in Irish sport. Under her 21-year leadership, Swim Ireland saw record participation numbers, landmark infrastructure investments, and Ireland’s best-ever Olympic showing at Paris 2024. She also led the creation of Ireland’s first National Swimming Strategy, backed by the government.
A former international water polo player and national-level swimmer, she brings a deep understanding of high-performance sport from both administrative and athletic perspectives. She still competes in swimming competitions within her age group, a true athlete.
Keane's influence extends across Irish and international sport. As the first female President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland 2017, she steered the organisation through the post-Rio 2016 crisis and revitalised it to deliver Ireland's best Summer Olympics performance in 2024.
Her extensive international network includes Board membership of World Aquatics and European Aquatics, Chair of the European Aquatics DEI Commission, and previous roles on IOC and ANOC Commissions. In 2022, she was appointed to the European Olympic Committee Organising Committee for the European Games 2023.
Speaking on her appointment Keane told Cricket Ireland:
“I am incredibly excited and deeply honoured to become the new CEO of Cricket Ireland and the first female CEO of an ICC Full Member nation. Cricket is a truly global sport, and Ireland now stands on the threshold of tremendous opportunity – from the Olympic opportunity with the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympics, the accelerated development of the women’s game, and the potential of bringing different communities together, to Ireland hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2030.
“I’m particularly keen to explore further avenues for commercial growth to ensure sustainable investment, and I look forward to supporting the ambitious plans for the development of the National Cricket Centre on the National Sports Campus and the upgrades to vital cricket infrastructure at Malahide, Stormont and others. I am committed to working collaboratively and tirelessly with the Board, staff, players, and the entire cricketing community to deliver on those opportunities for Irish Cricket and all involved.“
