On March 28, Ireland Women will go for Dubai for a training camp. On April 4, they will go for Pakistan, where they will play warm-up matches against Thailand Women and West Indies Women.
For the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup qualification competition, which will be held in Pakistan from April 5–18, a squad of 15 players has been chosen from Ireland. In order to strengthen the batting lineup, Sophie MacMahon, Louise Little, and Amy Hunter are all expected to return.
There are six teams participating in this round-robin qualifying tournament. Following that, the top two teams will advance to the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which will take place in September of that year.
“This tournament will be a great challenge for testing the depth of the senior squad, while we manage a number of player injuries that have been sustained over the last several months,” stated Ed Joyce, head coach of the Ireland women’s team. In order to meet the demands of international cricket, a larger talent pool of players who are prepared to step up and handle the volume of matches and forthcoming tournaments must be developed.
“Several players who have excelled at the domestic level over the past 12 months are among the changes. It is hoped that they will take a gamble and provide future teams a selection dilemma. The return of leg-spinner Cara Murray and the arrival of Coleraine finger-spinner Kia McCartney for her debut senior trip will be crucial in a nation where spin bowling will be crucial. Our batting strength will also be greatly increased by the return of Amy Hunter from injury and Sophie MacMahon and Louise Little, who were left off of prior squads.
“Due to the nature of the competition, it’s going to be a whole-of-squad effort to get through this qualifier, with five 50-over matches and two warm-up games against quality opponents in a short space of time,” he stated.
Ireland’s World Cup qualifying squad for women’s cricket
Alana Dalzell, Laura Delany, Sarah Forbes, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Kia McCartney, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Christina Coulter Reilly, Ava Canning, Gaby Lewis (c), and Orla Prendergast (vice-captain)
Schedule of Ireland’s Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers
Ire vs. West Indies, first warm-up match, Gaddafi Stadium, April 5, 2025 14:00
Ire vs. Thailand, LCCA (second warm-up game), April 7, 2025 9:30 a.m.
Ire vs. Pakistan, April 9, 2025, 9:30 AM, Gaddafi Stadium
Ire vs. West Indies, April 11, 2025, Gaddafi Stadium, 9:30 AM
Ire vs. Bangladesh, April 13, 2025, Gaddafi Stadium, 14:00 PM
Ire vs. Thailand on April 15, 2025: LCCA 9:30 a.m.
Ire versus. Scotland, April 18, 2025, Gaddafi Stadium, 14:00 PM
India
