(Cricket news) The 14-player Ireland Women’s squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup European Qualifier in Spain was announced by Cricket Ireland today. The tournament will be played between 26-31 August 2021.
Laura Delany who recently surpassed Isobel Joyce for most matches captained for Ireland Women will once again lead the side.
Currently sitting at 10th in the world in T20 cricket ranking, Ireland Women successfully completed home series wins against Scotland and Netherlands earlier this summer.
La Manga Club in Spain will host the Qualifier in a round-robin format, out of the six participating countries only the top team will progress to the 2022 ICC Women's World T20 Qualifier tournament scheduled to be held in New Zealand in March and April 2022.
Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France and Turkey are the six teams competing in the Qualifier. The matches will be livestreamed and livescored via the ICC website.
Ireland Squad
Laura Delany (C), Ava Canning, Georgina Dempsey, Shauna Kavanagh, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Lara Maritz, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.
Carrie Archer, Chair of National Women’s Selectors, said: “The selectors have had an extremely challenging selection process for the Qualifier – but, in a way, it was a pleasing challenge to have. The quality and increasing depth of our playing talent in Ireland means that there was increased competition for places, and with only 14 players travelling per squad, tough choices had to be made.”
“We are pleased with the squad we've selected, however, there were several players that have missed out. Our key message is that hard work and commitment never goes unnoticed. With this being such an important year for Women's cricket in Ireland, there will be future opportunities to push for selection in coming months. This is not the only qualifying tournament that we will be playing this year, and we will be keeping an eye out for those striving to secure their place for future series.”
“What stood out to us during our selection deliberations is that, although this is a relatively young squad, we not only have all bases covered, but we have a squad with both batting and bowling depth. That depth will be crucially important in this incredibly important and intense tournament. Providing Head Coach Ed Joyce and captain Laura Delany with options was our main goal.”
“The selectors wish Ed, Laura and the squad well both in the lead up and in the Qualifiers themselves.”
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Ed Joyce, Head Coach of Ireland Women, said: “We’ve had a decent preparation period with the squad – the Super Series, the match against Lancashire and the Netherlands series have all allowed us the opportunity to hone our tactics and help shape the roles each member of the squad will be expected to play. We’ll spend the next 10 days or so getting final preparations in place, but most of the hard work and planning has already been done, so it’s a case of trusting our abilities and executing our plans out on the field.”
“With only one side going through from here, it will be a challenging week – but what’s definitely pleasing for me is that I was confident no matter which 14 players were selected, will be taking a talented, eager and hungry group to Spain that are capable of competing on all fronts.”
