THE ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, which was co-hosted by Cricket Ireland, scooped the Best International Sporting Event Award at the inaugural Irish Sport Industry Awards which took place at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin last night.
The ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier took place throughout July and was held in four different venues across Ireland – Bready, Clontarf, Stormont and Malahide – while a further thirteen practice venues were involved. Fourteen teams from five different continents took part in the group and knockout stages, which were broadcast live to a global audience, to identify six teams to qualify for the 2016 ICC World T20, which takes place in India in March.
Cricket Ireland Chief Executive, Warren Deutrom, welcomed the award, “We are delighted to win the Best International Sporting Event award and to be acknowledged by the sports industry and by the business community. The success of the event is a testament to the hard work of all the staff and dedicated volunteers both in Cricket Ireland and the host venues. We would also like to sincerely thank ICC for entrusting us with the responsibility of co-hosting this event, as well as the Irish Government for their support in making it possible.
“The event showcased the high quality events that Cricket Ireland can produce and the appetite for cricket among the Irish public with large crowds attending the finals weekend at Malahide. We hope that this will lead to further international tournaments being awarded to Ireland.”
The Irish Sport Industry Awards are an initiative of the Federation of Irish Sport, and recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport whilst highlighting the contribution of sport to Ireland Inc. Cricket Ireland fended off tough competition from the Dublin City Marathon and the Croke Park Classic in the Best International Event Category.
Cricket Ireland were also shortlisted in the Best Use of Social Media category for the #BackingGreen campaign, but missed out the the IRFU’s #ShoulderToShoulder.