Test Cricket, as the name suggests, tests the talents of the players to the fullest. The game is played across five days. The team, which scores more runs in a total of two innings, is considered the winner. The format was introduced first before the ODI and T20Is. Ireland’s Cricket team wasn’t allowed to play Test cricket before 2017, as they were not a Full Member of the ICC. But the Irish got their Test-playing rights on 22 June 2017 when they became the 11th Full Member of ICC. Ireland played their maiden test match against Pakistan in 2018, after they became the 11th test nation. But the team couldn’t perform well in this format till then and lost all three matches they played.
Ireland in Test Cricket:
Ireland’s performance in Test cricket is not as good as the shorter formats. They made their first appearance in whites against Pakistan in 2018. They played another two Test Matches against Afghanistan and England later but couldn’t win any of those matches.
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| Opposition | Date | Result | Venue | Man of the Match |
| Pakistan | 11 May 2018 | Lost by 5 wickets | The Village, Dublin, Ireland | Kevin O’ Brien |
| Afghanistan | 15 March 2019 | Lost by 7 wickets | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India | Rahmat Shah |
| England | 24 July 2019 | Lost by 143 runs | Lord’s, London, England | Jack Leach |
Feats achieved by the Ireland team in Test Cricket:
Ireland is yet to leave its mark in Test Cricket. But some players have shown their potential to carry the team forward in this particular format. As a team also, Ireland showed some exciting cricket in the three matches it played.
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The most team runs in an inning: Irish team showed their batting talents in their debut Test Match against Pakistan, where they scored 339 in an inning, which is the highest score made by Ireland in a Test Inning. Here are some other good batting performances by the Ireland cricket team in Test matches.
| Score | Opposition | Venue |
| 339 | Pakistan | The Village, Dublin, Ireland |
| 288 | Afghanistan | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India |
| 207 | England | Lord’s, London, England |
| 172 | Afghanistan | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India |
| 130 | Pakistan | The Village, Dublin, Ireland |
Most individual runs in the Test matches: An experienced player always needs to guide the way for the youngsters in a difficult situation. For the Irish team legend, all-rounder Kevin O’Brien did this job. He is the highest run scorer for the Ireland cricket team in the Test matches with 258 runs. But he didn’t get much support from his teammates, which was the main barrier for Ireland to win a test match.
| Score | Player name | Matches Played |
| 258 | Kevin O’Brien | 3 |
| 146 | Andrew Balbirnie | 3 |
| 109 | Tim Murtagh | 3 |
| 104 | Paul Stirling | 3 |
| 73 | James McCollum | 2 |
Most wickets in the Test matches: Tim Murtagh tops the list with 13 wickets in the three matches Ireland has played. He’s been a consistent performer in the red ball format and is expected to lead the bowling side of Ireland in the red ball format for the next few years.
| Wickets | Player name | Matches |
| 13 | Tim Murtagh | 3 |
| 10 | Stuart Thompson | 3 |
| 7 | Boyd Rankin | 2 |
| 6 | James Cameron-Dow | 1 |
| 3 | Andy McBrine | 2 |
Ireland’s team has just set foot in Test Cricket. So, it will take some time for them to adjust to this format. The fans need to give more time to the team and support every individual who is involved in the team as they are the ones who will be carrying the team for a bright future.
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