The pathway from Northern Ireland’s villages and towns to top level cricket is not a straightforward route, but Carson hopes his journey can become an inspiration to others, even just as supporter
Rising cricket star Jack Carson admits the Northern Ireland ‘chip on the shoulder’ has helped him get to where he is today.
The 25-year-old Craigavon man has emerged as one of Sussex’s star men, having made his debut back in 2020 in the Bob Willis Trophy.
He finished that summer as the team’s leading wicket taker and was then back to back leading bowler in 2020 and 2021.
Carson his his first century in May 2025 and this May he produced a remarkable 105 rescue act against Surrey when Sussex were 92-7.
Having been awarded his county cap two years ago, Carson has taken on the Sussex captaincy for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign.
They take on Essex on Wednesday (July 29) at Arundel and Carson believes the Northern Ireland underdog mentality has helped him battle his way up the ranks.
“I guess being Northern Irish, we always felt like a bit of a chip on the shoulder, the underdog mentality,” Carson said.
“That’s reflected in how I’ve gone about the game a bit, always trying to be effective in any situation and combative – and that’s probably linked to how I grew up. I played men’s cricket from a young age and had to find ways to be competitive. I’m very proud of my roots,” added the Waringstown native.
“I grew up about 10 metres from the boundary edge of my local cricket club, just beyond the hedges. I was around cricket from an early age, had brothers playing. My dad and my granddad were both heavily involved in cricket.
“I loved the sport and loved trying to get better and my dad was very supportive in that – probably the amount of balls he threw to me between the ages of about eight and 16, I’m surprised he probably hasn’t had to have a shoulder replacement in his 60s now. The sidearm was a great invention for him in that regard, it eased his load a bit! I represented Ireland at under-15 level.
When I grew up, the Irish men’s cricket team was pretty much effectively amateur, but there was quite a few players who made their living in county cricket. And that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to play effectively in county cricket. Like an Ed Joyce or a William Porterfield or a Boyd Rankin and people like that. That was a goal.
“The pathway now, with Test match cricket in Ireland, Irish kids will grow up watching Ireland be a professional men’s team and playing for Ireland will be the end-end goal, which is different from when I grew up.”
The pathway from Northern Ireland’s villages and towns to top level cricket is not a straightforward route, but Carson hopes his journey can become an inspiration to others, even just as supporters
“Hopefully with me becoming a captain in county cricket, we can have extra Sussex fans in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“One of my frustrations when I left was that a lot of the infrastructure and funding and things that were in the pipeline to come into Irish cricket were very Dublin-based.
“The hunger and passion for sport where I grew up is massive and whether it’s rugby, football, cricket, there’s definitely a lot of potential for sports people to come out of those areas.
“It would be awesome if now Sussex and county cricket can reach into Northern Ireland and spike an interest. I’d absolutely love for a kid to wear a Sussex shirt in my village in Northern Ireland.”
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