When Cade Carmichael arrived in Ireland from his native South Africa four years ago, he had no hesitation in announcing that his goal was to play international cricket for Ireland. It can be safely said that he is well on his way.

An innings of 86 for Northern Knights in their opening inter-provincial of the season on Wednesday followed a century for the Ireland Wolves against Afghanistan A in the four-day game last month and 151 runs in the Tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka A, which followed on the tour in Abu Dhabi.

A steady, if unspectacular start for Instonians by Carmichael has helped Instonians win their first three matches in the Premier League and they sit behind Lisburn at the top of the table only on run-rate. But the 23-year-old is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“It can change very quickly,” he says, “so it’s a case of trying to keep it going while it’s going well. Definitely, the Wolves tour helped prepare me for the season, good coaching, good opposition and good pitches.  I was also very chuffed to be top scorer for the Wolves in the series, that was one of my goals going out there. It was my first time in Abu Dhabi, very warm but definitely a nice place to bat.”

Carmichael’s only disappointment is that he has yet to build on his good starts. Indeed, after three first innings centuries in the two inter-pros – the first time that has happened on the same day – everyone was looking to Cade to make it four.

“I should have batted for longer but thankfully we bat deep and it was a good chase in the end. And, with Sparky (Mark Adair) and (Paul) Stirling to come back, it is looking good and hopefully we can win a trophy.

That is also the aim for Instonians after what Carmichael admits was a disappointing 2024 when they failed to make the top six, although relegation was never a serious possibility for the 2023 Premier League champions.

“Last year was a disappointing season, we lost our pro early on, but Shane Dadswell is back this year and he adds a lot to the team with bat and ball,” says Carmichael.

 “Our goal is, first, to get into top six and then I’d love to win a cup, T20 or Challenge. We just want to be competitive the whole year as opposed to last year when we weren’t at our best but this year we could be in the hunt to win something.

“The fact we have been winning and Shane hasn’t come off yet is a good thing, hopefully he comes off  this week because Woodvale are not going to be easy. Ruhan (Pretorius) is in form and they have a pro so it will be a good game.”

Carmichael is in his fifth season at Instonians but it is his first as an opening batsman and he is “actually really enjoying it. I opened a bit at school but this is the first time over here. It’s only been four innings, for the club and Knights and while I’ve had a couple of starts (two 40s) it will be good to kick on”.

His one failure was in Instonians’ opening rearranged 20-over league game against Civil Service North but that allowed him to watch his Knights captain Neil Rock go berserk with that record 173 from 64 balls.

“It is probably one of the best innings I have ever seen. The ball was going everywhere. It was very nice to watch that!

Carmichael will certainly not score as fast on Saturday – although he has been going at a run a ball in his other two innings for Instonians – but at least his home record against Woodvale is good. It’s only been two games at Shaw’s Bridge but he has scored 50 not out and 83. 

Can he go even better on Saturday? It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise.