Ireland Women’s left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire says her teammates are as determined as ever to bounce back from the first-match defeat to Scotland and that the side is undaunted about taking on the hosts England later today.
Maguire, 19, made her international debut almost three years ago to the day, and is relishing the prospect of facing England once more.
The left-arm orthodox tweaker from The Hills Cricket Club registered her best bowling figures against England in a one-day international in 2004 when she claimed 5-19. Several days after that, Maguire took 3-30 and 2-32 in two T20Is against the English side – the latter of these was part of a famous win by the Girls in Green in Clontarf.
Maguire was speaking after training last night:
“I’ve definitely been enjoying the whole World Cup experience so far, obviously it wasn’t ideal with the loss against Scotland to start with, but the experience around that including prep has been enjoyable. It’s a first World Cup for a few of us so it’s nice being able to embrace it together.”
Asked about the decision to throw Aimee the ball first up in the Scotland match, she said:
“I thought I’d be way more nervous, but it was more exciting than anything else. It’s obviously something rather new I’ve been doing but being backed by the girls and coaches definitely makes it a lot easier to go out and do.”
Maguire bowled with control and was rewarded with the wicket of Darcie Carter with a bowl that looped in towards the pads, yorking the batter and crashing into leg stump:
“The plan to her was to always go slightly fuller hoping to create a wicket opportunity, a yorker length wasn’t exactly my idea for that ball, but it worked so I was happy!”
Looking ahead:
“We’re definitely feeling both determined and ready to bounce back, while it wasn’t an ideal start to the tournament, as a squad we are resilient and ready for our next game. Playing the home team next in a big tournament is definitely something to look forward to and can’t wait to show our family and friends what we can do against one of the best sides in the world.”
THE TOURNAMENT
There are 12 teams participating in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. The teams are split into two groups of six teams listed below. Ireland is in Group 2. The top two teams in each group after the completion of the group matches proceed to the semi-final stage.
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Australia | West Indies |
| South Africa | England |
| India | New Zealand |
| Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| Bangladesh | Ireland |
| Netherlands | Scotland |
SQUAD
The squad is::
- Gaby Lewis (c)
- Orla Prendergast (vc)
- Ava Canning
- Christina Coulter Reilly
- Alana Dalzell
- Georgina Dempsey
- Amy Hunter
- Arlene Kelly
- Louise Little
- Aimee Maguire
- Lara McBride
- Cara Murray
- Leah Paul
- Rebecca Stokell
- Alice Tector
Further information on the players is available here.
FIXTURES
Women’s T20 World Cup 2026:
- 13 June 2026: Ireland Women v Scotland Women – T20I (scorecard)
- 16 June 2026: Ireland Women v England Women – T20I (Hampshire; starts 6.30pm)
- 19 June 2026: Ireland Women v New Zealand Women – T20I (Hampshire; starts 6.30pm)
- 23 June 2026: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women – T20I (Bristol; starts 2.30pm)
- 27 June 2026: Ireland Women v West Indies Women – T20I (Bristol; starts 2.30pm)
HOW TO WATCH, FOLLOW OR ATTEND
Watch:
- In Ireland / UK, Sky Sports will show every match
- For other parts of the world, see here
Follow:
- You can see all the match scores throughout the tournament here: https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-t20-worldcup-2026/matches
- You can also see updates and plenty of content on Cricket Ireland’s social media channels: https://cricketireland.ie/get-involved/social-media/
Attend:
- For tickets to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, buy your tickets here.
