Irish domestic season set to get underway

Ireland's premier men's domestic competition, the Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Series, gets underway on Monday, with Northern Knights hosting the defending champions, Leinster Lightning, at Stormont.

The competition, now in its fourth year, involves three teams competing across all three formats, with the third of them, North-West Warriors, set to get their season underway against Leinster at Merrion on May 13.

In light of Cricket Ireland's newly launched strategic plan, which aims to build on a decade of achievement at international level to broaden the sport's appeal domestically, this season's Inter-Pros take on an added layer of significance.

"The Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial series is the bridge between club and country and showcases the best of Irish cricket talent throughout the season," said Dennis Cousins, the commercial director of Cricket Ireland.

"Cricket Ireland are greatly appreciative of the support from Hanley Energy which enables us to make each series bigger, better and more competitive."

Leinster Lightning completed the clean sweep of three trophies in 2015, winning the Hanley Energy Championship, 50-over Cup & 20-over Trophy, but will face stiff competition from the Warriors and Knights across all three formats.

Monday's action at Stormont gets underway at 10.45am, and admission is free. The matches will be scored live on ESPNcricinfo.