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Captains give their views as 2018 Toyota Super 3’s Series squads announced, fixtures released

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Cricket Ireland today announced the squads and fixtures for the 2018 Toyota Super 3’s Series, ahead of an exciting season for women’s cricket in Ireland – with team captains giving an assessment of the tournament ahead.
The Toyota Super 3’s Series is the peak domestic cricket competition for women’s cricket in Ireland. It features three squads – Scorchers, Typhoons and Dragons – that play a series of 20-over and 50-over matches between May and September each year.

The Scorchers claimed the title in 2017, having won seven of eight matches, and look set for another big season under the captaincy of Kim Garth. Kim has recently returned from a successful Australian summer during which she was part of the winning Women’s Big Bash League team.

“The Super 3’s competition has really gone from strength to strength and is becoming increasingly competitive every year. We expect our title defence to be a tough challenge,” said Kim.

“The Scorchers are very lucky to be able to keep the bulk of our squad together this year as we look to vie for our third title. One of the most exciting things from last year was that there were important contributions from everyone in the squad at different stages, and the squad expects to continue this form going into the 2018 season.”

“Last series Orla Prendergast really displayed why she is regarded as one of the most exciting up-and-coming cricketers in Ireland, and I have no doubt she will produce more outstanding performances for the Scorchers this year. Cara Murray excelled too and largely off the back of her Super 3’s form she was selected for the senior national team on the recent Zimbabwe tour. I’d expect Cara’s all-round abilities with both bat and ball should be an exciting feature of our season in 2018.”

The series will launch on 4 May 2018 with a T20 match between the Typhoons and the Dragons. Laura Delany, the national women’s captain, will be at the helm of the Typhoons and sees a promising year ahead:

“2017 was a very successful season for Super 3’s, and it was brilliant to see players score big runs and build big partnerships. This season I hope we continue to do that and ultimately translate this form onto the world stage through the national team,” said Laura.

“I was really happy with the progress we [the Typhoons] made as a team throughout the last summer, and with a pretty settled team this season I’m very much looking forward to the challenge ahead of us.”

“There were some stand out performances from Clare Shillington with the bat, and Robyn Lewis went from strength to strength with the ball – they will no doubt play important parts for the team again this season. A few players to watch out for in 2018 are Ellen Ridgeway, Louise Little and Aoife Beggs.”

Shauna Kavanagh, national team regular and captain of the Dragons, knows the importance of the competition:

“The standard of the Super 3’s competition has improved every year since its introduction, and last year was no exception. We know well that the competition is a vital stepping stone to international cricket, and with a big international calendar year ahead of us, it will provide our squad with invaluable game time at the next level up from club cricket,” said Shauna.

“Our 2017 season saw some brilliant performances, most notably from Mary Waldron whose consistency saw her finish as our leading run scorer. I was also impressed with the batting of Instonians’ Amy Hunter, and look forward to seeing her in action again for us this summer.”

“2018 will see the Dragons Squad bolstered by the addition of three new overseas players – Kerry Tomlinson, Paris Crowe and Niamh Walsh – and we are looking forward to welcoming them into squad along with [former Scorchers player] Orla Martin.”

“A couple of Dragons players to watch out for this season would be opening bowlers Lara Maritz and Hannah Little – they’ve both shown great promise.”

Image: Lucy O’Reilly bowling for the Scorchers in 2017

Keeping a watchful eye on the series is National Women’s Head Coach and Performance Pathway Manager, Aaron Hamilton:

“The Toyota Super 3’s Series provides the talent pool for our national women’s side – and all players are acutely aware that a breakthrough season at Super 3’s level can lead to national and academy selection. That’s the motivation behind what makes this series so competitive,” said Hamilton.

“The Series also provides our established national players an opportunity to reinforce their credentials – and we saw some fantastic performances in 2017. Kim Garth and Laura Delany were equal top of the wicket-taking list, while Clare Shillington hit a memorable 116 off just 54 balls at Oak Hill ground.”

“Ireland Women’s team will host some major cricketing sides in 2018 in New Zealand and Bangladesh, but players also know that dangling as a carrot this season are spots in the World T20 Qualifier tournament being held in the Netherlands in July.”

The Squads

Dragons Squad 2018

• Shauna Kavanagh (Pembroke)
• Mary Waldron (Malahide)
• Gaby Lewis (YMCA)
• Cecelia Joyce (Merrion)
• Rachel Delaney (Merrion)
• Ciara Metcalfe (Northants CCC)
• Lara Maritz (Clontarf)
• Caoimhe McCann (Malahide)
• Ruby Neville (Merrion)
• Amy Hunter (Instonians)
• Tess Maritz (Clontarf)
• Hannah Little (Pembroke)
• Orla Martin (Phoenix)
• Louise McCarthy (Pembroke)
• Kerry Tomlinson (Overseas)
• Niamh Walsh (Overseas)
• Paris Crowe (Overseas)

Shauna Kavanagh – Captain
Tim Simmonite – Head Coach

Scorchers Squad 2018

• Kim Garth (Pembroke)
• Lucy O’Reilly (YMCA)
• Isobel Joyce (Merrion)
• Una Raymond–Hoey (Clontarf)
• Anna Kerrison (Malahide)
• Cara Murray (Saints field/Weringstown)
• Orla Prendergast (Pembroke)
• Rebecca Stokell (Leinster)
• Cliona Tucker (Pembroke)
• Aisling Byrne (The Hills)
• Anna Kirk (Clontarf)
• Sarah Condon (Malahide)
• Hannah De Burgh Whyte (Merrion)
• Cathy Murphy (Pembroke)
• Jemma Rankin (Bready)
• Alana Ryan (Overseas)
• Isabella Fitzgibbon (Overseas)

Kim Garth – Captain
Andrew Poynter – Head Coach

Typhoons Squad 2018

• Laura Delany (Leinster)
• Jennifer Grey (YMCA)
• Clare Shillington (Pembroke)
• Amy Kenealy (Leinster)
• Eimear Richardson (Wellington, NZ)
• Aoife Beggs (YMCA)
• Robyn Lewis (YMCA)
• Louise Little (Pembroke)
• Leah Paul (Merrion)
• Ellen Ridgeway (Leinster)
• Sadhbh Breslin (Merrion)
• Amy Benson (North Down)
• Natasha Mort n (The Hills)
• Vanessa Kelada (Leinster)
• Sophie MacMahon (Leinster)
• Naomi Mathews (Weringstown)
• Matilda Lugg (Overseas)
• Celeste Raack (Overseas)