Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom hopes that Leinster Lightning's inter-provincial success this summer will raise standards at the other two teams, the North West Warriors and the Northern Knights.

The Lightning have already won the three-day and T20 RSA Inter-Provincial titles, and will complete a clean sweep by taking the 50-over title if they beat the North West Warriors on Saturday 21 September in Strabane.

There has been some disquiet at the way the Lightning have dominated the series, but Deutrom says that Trent Johnston's side have set a benchmark that the other two provinces need to emulate.

He likens the series to the early days of professional rugby in Ireland, suggesting that Ulster's 1999 Heineken Cup win prompted improvements at Leinster and Munster that helped them to their own subsequent European success.

"Ulster rugby pulled up the standards at the other franchises," Deutrom told icc-cricket.com.

"Munster came on very strong, (winning the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2008) then Leinster of course (with their 2009, 2011 and 2012 Heineken Cup victories).

"We hope the same will happen in cricket - that Leinster Lightning will start very strong but will bring up the other two sides as well."

Deutrom says Cricket Ireland will soon embark on an end-of-season review which will discuss the inter-provincial series, but he does not expect there to be fundamental changes to the format in the near future.

"There is a feeling that we have made a successful start. This is the first year of a three-year programme, and we take the view that it would be premature to start fixing a formula that isn't broken," he said.

"The cricketers have been given a real step up from elite club cricket, and they have welcomed the environment they have come into, with professional physios and strength and conditioning coaches."

Deutrom expects the tournament to eventually broaden to include new teams, with a Munster side targeted as the fourth franchise.

"In two years' time, it may well become a bit samey, and there could be a need to introduce a fourth or fifth team,"he said.

"Will Munster be strong enough, or do they require additional playing resources? Are there players within Munster who can take the step up, or do they maybe need some players from the other three sides?"

Deutrom also says it is unlikely that Ireland will join a proposed European inter-provincial league made up of representative sides from the Netherlands and Scotland, but welcomes the possibility of a play-off tournament against the Dutch and Scottish champions.

"We have had discussions with Scotland and the Netherlands about joining a European league, but we feel it may be a little premature to enter that structure," he said.

"However, we may look at playing one-off games between the champion teams from each country towards the end of the season."