Former Irish international Donna Armstrong has been formally appointed the Cricket Ireland President for the next 12 months, succeeding Stella Downes at a handover ceremony as part of the Cricket Ireland Annual General Meeting yesterday.
Belfast-born Armstrong was capped 29 times for Ireland between 1983 and 1991, playing in Ireland Women’s inaugural international match against Netherlands. Armstrong went on to become a cricket coach, national selector and Team Manager of Ireland Women post-playing.
Armstrong becomes the third woman to assume the Cricket Ireland Presidency, following Aideen Rice (2018-19) and Stella Downes (2024-25).
Speaking at the AGM, Armstrong began by paying tribute to her father, former Irish international Lloyd Armstrong:
“I would like to give credit to my father, Lloyd Armstrong, for giving me my love of cricket. I have proudly followed in his footsteps as an international player and coach, and I certainly wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him.
“I was heavily involved in creating the national setup for the Women’s side – I formed an Ulster team in the 1980’s – and from that, with Leinster and Munster, we were able to form an Irish team. Quietly, most of my Ulster players were my teammates from Pegasus Hockey Club, but we were all PE teachers and were well able to swap the hockey stick for a cricket bat!
“Today, I still spend a great deal of time coaching children – proudly, I can name Amy Hunter and Matthew Humphreys as being two of those children. This next year, I’d love to see a focus on involving children more – bringing them to see more matches, as I think that schools should be encouraged to allow the children to support international games.
“I’m hoping I can continue to call into schools and chat to the PE departments and the children about cricket. While I’ve always done this, with my Presidential cap on, it might work even better. I was a PE teacher and Advisor working for the Education Boards in Northern Ireland, so I have a lot of experience in all sports.
“Suffice to say, I’m very humbled by being given this opportunity and would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Stella Downes for her extensive advice and counsel on the role. They are enormous shoes to fill, but I look forward to getting around Ireland and meeting the many wonderful people who play, coach, volunteer and support our great game.”
Outgoing President, Stella Downes, gave an emotional farewell to the gathering:
“What to say at a time like this is hard, but, quite succinctly, I have enjoyed the role immensely. The warmth of the welcome I received everywhere I went was just lovely.
“To be honest, at the start of the role I turned to Warren Deutrom and legitimately asked, “does Cricket Ireland really need a President?”. Over the last year, I have come to realise the importance of the role in representing Cricket Ireland to our grassroots in clubs as well as to hosts and dignitaries on the world stage. I was lucky to witness so many successes, but also the courage and sportsmanship shown in defeat.
“There are far too many highlights to name – but several that stood out include the Test match in Belfast, the huge success of the Women’s T20 team, the wins for the Men in Clontarf – my home club, the Girls’ Under-19 World Cup squad, the first inter-pro in Connacht, the finals of the Irish Senior Cup and National Cup in Cork, the T20 cup finals at Phoenix – as well as the hundreds of representative games at all levels that I saw.
“Off the field, it was fantastic to see the progress on the national stadium and Failte Solar coming on board.
“As I wave goodbye to this wonderful role, I truly hope that cricket will continue to grow and flourish, and that every club will embrace equality and diversity. I hope that the national stadium be finished and supported by fans, and that we continue to punch above our weight on the world stage and that success in major tournaments becomes the norm.
“I am truly thankful to the small band of dedicated staff at Cricket Ireland for their support and encouragement and wish Donna well in the year ahead.”
