Ireland Women get their World T20 Qualifying campaign underway tomorrow when they take on European rivals the Netherlands in their first group game.
Two places in next year’s ICC Women’s World Twenty20 India 2016 will be up for grabs when eight sides go head to head in a week-long ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier Thailand 2015 in Bangkok from Saturday.
Apart from the host nation, sides from Bangladesh, China, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and Zimbabwe will take part in the competition with the 5 December Trophy finalists joining reigning champion Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the event proper, which will be staged alongside the men’s event from 11 March to 3 April 2016.
The conditions in Thailand are a long way from those back in Ireland, but the squad have been out there preparing for a week now, and played two warm-up matches again Scotland and Thailand, winning them both. Ciara Metcalfe, the Irish leg spinner, has been very happy with the preparation time in Thailand.
“We’ve been really lucky to have got this warm up week in Bangkok, a chance to get used to the weather and playing conditions. The temperature each day has been 36 and we’ve trained hard and pushed ourselves through each day. Everybody is on top of their hydration, sleep and food now, and with a good support team with us, everything is taking shape for the official games.”
According to event format, the eight sides have been divided into two groups with the top two sides from each group moving to the Trophy semi-finals and bottom two from each group playing in the Shield semi-finals.
Ireland will face the Netherlands on Saturday, before taking on China a day later with the final group match against Zimbabwe on Tuesday. The first two games will all take place at 10am local time, meaning they will kick off at 3am back in Ireland, but the final game will produce some relief for fans, with a 13.45 local start meaning a far more civilised 6.45am start for Irish fans.
Finishing in the top two of the group after those games will see Ireland through to the semi-finals of the Trophy, which they must then win to qualify for the World Cup, they will then be joined in India next year by their opponents in the final.
Ireland captain Isobel Joyce, leads a squad packed with youth and experience alongside her twin sister Cecelia, and said the team was determined to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20.
“The ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier is a huge tournament for Ireland and it’s very important for the continued development of the team that we qualify for the main event in March,” Joyce said, adding:
“The girls have been very focused in training, both in the gym and with skills sessions. Our training camp in La Manga, Spain, recently, and a power-hitting session with Julian Wood, has us very prepared for T20 cricket.”
The two warm up games in Bangkok have not only helped the squad adapt to the environmental conditions, but given them invaluable information about the way grounds play and how best to approach games in the tournament.
Metcalfe feels that maybe the scores won’t be as high as some fans are used to, and that the batters may have to work a lot harder for their runs than normal.
“The outfields are slow and spongy. Ceil (Joyce) and Clare (Shillington) did get value for their shots in the second warm up match, but the balls seems to plug a lot so there will be a lot of singles in this tournament.”
“If you’re following the games from your computer it won’t reflect the work that is been put in for every single run. These are though batting conditions” continued Metcalfe.
Heading into the matches Metcalfe is keen to get going but knows the importance of taking each game one at a time and keeping focused.
“As I’ve said before, over the summer and winter months we have worked hard.
“We’ve prepared for each game and are excited to get started. We’ll take one game at a time, if we execute our skills and game plans we should give ourselves every chance to get through the group stages.”
The matches will be a tough test for the squad, not least for the conditions, but the hard work throughout the season and over the last couple of months indoors will stand them in good stead as they look to qualify for their second World T20 in a row.
You can follow a live scorecard of the action and get updates and interviews throughout the tournament on cricketireland.ie and through our twitter feed @irelandcricket.
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