Cricket is played during the summer term at RBAI, with competitive fixtures taking place every Saturday morning. Additionally, Cup fixtures for all age groups will take place during the school week.
School cricketers practise on their designated games day, with coaching sessions being run by the master in charge of their team. The school also utilises the expertise of the Instonians Cricket Club professional, who provides expert coaching to all school cricketers, in order to enhance their cricketing development.
We have a long and proud tradition of success in cricket, winning the Ulster Schools’ Cup a record 13 times in the history of the competition. An excellent example of the Cricket Club’s success is the 2024 season when a total of 7 trophies were won. The 1st XI won the Ulster Schools’ Cup, with the 2nd XI, Under 14 XI, Under 13XI and Under 12 XI all winning their respective competitions. The school also won the overall McCullough Cup League title, a competition which involves all school cricket teams, from the Under 12 XI right through to the 1st XI. This trophy has been won by the school a remarkable 10 times in the last 11 years.
The cricket square at Osborne contains both grass wickets and an artificial, with two other artificial wickets at Cranmore and Bladon. The School also has both indoor and outdoor nets and an electronic scoreboard at our Osborne Park venue. The school is very proud that our pitch at Osborne Park was chosen and used as one of the venues for the ICC World Cup Qualifying tournament in 2005 and continues to maintain a Band 1 rating from the Northern Cricket Union. This means the grounds are considered suitable to host Premier League Cricket in Northern Ireland.
