Ireland returned to international cricket in May this year after a gap of 18 months and had two successful series at home against Scotland and Netherlands. From the squad that featured against the Netherlands, allrounder Rachel Delaney and leg-spinner Celeste Raack miss out while Louise Little and Cara Murray make a comeback in their place.
Head coach Ed Joyce expressed his happiness with the preparation Ireland have had ahead of the competition and added that now it’s about trusting their abilities and executing the plans that are in place.
“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,” Joyce said.
“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.”
Ireland will compete against Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France and Turkey in the European Qualifier at the La Manga Club in Spain from August 26 to 31. The team that finishes top will progress to ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier 2022 tournament.
“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,” Joyce added.
Carrie Archer, chair of selectors, said it was a challenging job to pick the final 14 members of the squad and they have picked a squad to cover all the bases.
“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,” Archer said.
“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.”
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
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