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ABU DHABI – Ireland Women’s head coach Ed Joyce says his side is as ready as it can be for the start of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in the UAE tomorrow.

Speaking from the team hotel in Abu Dhabi, he said:

“Despite the unexpected rain, preparations have gone pretty well considering with lost a T20I and some training. We’ve had good run outs against UAE, Thailand, Scotland and the USA and trained well up. All the jet lag and heat acclimatisation has been done too, so we’re looking forward to the competition proper starting very soon.

“The squad, while still young, is learning quickly. Their game awareness has definitely improved. The recent Zimbabwe tour helped us a lot as we needed to adapt to different pitches constantly, and some of our less experienced players got a good amount of game time. I feel we have a few more bowling options to call upon now, and our fielding in general has improved too.

“The message going into this tournament has been that we know our template T20 game and we have to try and impose that on the opposition regardless of who they are. Qualifiers are difficult, especially in T20 cricket, and we will be put in difficult situations, so we need to embrace those and be brave. Myself and some of our senior leadership group have played in many qualifiers. They are difficult and pressurised due to their knockout nature. The experiences that we have gained over many years show us that we need to play positive, simple, smart cricket in every game and with our skill level, hopefully that’s enough to get the job done.”

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SQUAD

• Laura Delany (captain), Ava Canning, Alana Dalzell, Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Joanna Loughran, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell.

FIXTURES

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier

• 25 April: Ireland Women v UAE Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE; starts 12pm Ireland time)
• 29 April: Ireland Women v Zimbabwe Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE; starts 12pm Ireland time)
• 1 May: Ireland Women v Vanuatu Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)
• 3 May: Ireland Women v Netherlands Women (Qualifier Group Stage; UAE)

WATCH

Watch every game on www.icc.tv

FURTHER INFORMATION

See: https://www.icc-cricket.com/

Ireland Women’s cricket team is proudly supported by Certa – Ireland’s largest fuel supplier. Certa, which is part of DCC plc, is a new brand operating in the fuel, home, business and lubricants space with a vision to become Ireland’s most progressive energy company. It operates Ireland’s largest network of unmanned, pay@pump forecourts and home heating depots. See a recent video campaign Certa and Cricket Ireland collaborated on.