The Ireland Women’s cricket team returns to action in three-match one-day international series against England starting tomorrow.
The series is part of the ICC Women’s Championship, which is the main pathway to qualify for the next 50-over World Cup.
The two sides have met on 20 occasions previously in One-Day Internationals, with England winning 18 and Ireland winning two matches. England are ranked 2nd in Women’s ODI cricket, while Ireland is ranked 10th.
Ireland hosted England in an ODI Series in 2024, with England winning 2-1, however the last match featured a dramatic last-ball win by Ireland (see highlights).
Speaking at today’s press conference, Irish captain Gaby Lewis said about the disrupted preparations due to inclement weather:
“I know it sounds cliché, but you can only control what you can control – and the weather is something that we unfortunately can’t control. We were due to have a warm-up game against an England Development side on Saturday, but that was called off. So, we got a hit indoors and we’ve just tried to do as much as we can.
“We actually had some had some travel issues on the way over for those travelling from Dublin with flights disrupted by the storm. But look, everyone got here safely and we managed to get a good training session in on Friday and we have another one today. We put in some great training back home, so it’s not too alien conditions to Ireland and something that we’re definitely used to.”
About building on the results of the summer:
“We’ve had a successful summer and that does make it easier in the camp. Confidence is high after the last few months – we got our first win against West Indies in the T20 World Cup, but we were gutted to not get a win against the West Indies in that in that ODI series. I feel like they were definitely a team that we were looking to target. But this is a new series, it’s a team that we have had some success against before in that 2024 summer. We’re all just looking forward to playing some more cricket for Ireland.”
About England:
“They’re obviously resting a number of players, but they do have some high-quality players coming in as well. It’s been a real benefit that myself and Orla [Prendergast] have been playing over in England. We play against these girls for our counties, which can help our preparations for the series.”
THE SQUAD
The Ireland Women’s squad is:
- Gaby Lewis (captain) (Phoenix)
- Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf)
- Georgina Dempsey (Phoenix)
- Amy Hunter (Instonians/Malahide)
- Arlene Kelly (Malahide)
- Louise Little (Pembroke)
- Jane Maguire (The Hills)
- Lara McBride (The Hills)
- Kia McCartney (Coleraine)
- Cara Murray (Waringstown/Clontarf)
- Leah Paul (Merrion)
- Orla Prendergast (Pembroke)
- Rebecca Stokell (Merrion)
- Alice Tector (Phoenix)
SERIES DETAILS
The tour fixtures are:
- 1 September 2026: England Women v Ireland Women – 1st ODI (Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester; 1pm start)
- 3 September 2026: England Women v Ireland Women – 2nd ODI (The OurCoop County Ground, Derby; 1pm start)
- 6 September 2026: England Women v Ireland Women – 3rd ODI (New Road, Worcester ; 10.30am start)
HOW TO WATCH, FOLLOW or ATTEND
- Watch the series via Sky Sports Mix or Sky Sports Cricket
- You can follow the score on the ECB website.
- Tickets to the series are available via www.ecb.co.uk
BACKGROUND TO THE ICC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
ICC Women’s Championship 2025–2029
The ICC Women’s Championship 2025–2029 will determine the majority of qualification places for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029.
Championship Format
- The Championship features 10 Full Member nations.
- Each team will play eight three-match ODI series:
- Four home series (Ireland: India, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies)
- Four away series (Ireland: England, Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka)
- Each team will therefore play 24 One Day Internationals during the Championship cycle.
- The Championship is scheduled to conclude on 28 February 2029, which is the qualification cut-off date.
Points System
Teams receive:
- 2 points for a win
- 1 point for a tie, no result or abandoned match
- 0 points for a loss
If teams finish level on points, the standings are determined by:
- Greatest number of wins
- Highest net run rate across all Championship matches
- Most points in head-to-head matches
- Highest net run rate in head-to-head matches
- Original Championship seeding (if still tied)
Qualification for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029
The 2029 Women’s Cricket World Cup will feature 10 teams. Automatic Qualification (8 teams).
Eight teams will qualify automatically:
- The host nation (provided it is a Full Member participating in the Championship), and
- The next seven highest-ranked teams in the final ICC Women’s Championship standings at the conclusion of the competition (28 February 2029).
- If the host finishes within the top seven, qualification will pass to the next highest-ranked eligible team.
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier
The remaining two World Cup places will be decided through the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
The Qualifier will consist of six teams:
- The three lowest-ranked teams from the ICC Women’s Championship, and
- Three additional teams determined by the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings, based on a qualification cut-off date to be confirmed once the host nation and tournament window have been finalised.
The top two teams from the Qualifier will secure the final two places at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029.
SPONSOR
Cricket Ireland and Evara, Ireland’s largest privately-owned homebuilder, recently announced a new multi-year sponsorship deal that will support women’s cricket and the all-Ireland Irish club cup competitions. Read more.
