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Ireland are vying for a place to join defending champions Australia, hosts England, New Zealand and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion West Indies in the ICC World Cup later this year.
Ireland are vying for a place to join defending champions Australia, hosts England, New Zealand and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion West Indies in the ICC World Cup later this year.

This tournament will be a hotly contested, not just for getting to the World Cup in England later this year, but there are other incentives which will be up for grabs.
Nations can also gain places in the next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship and sides could also secure ODI status for the next four years. The World Cup Qualifiers in Sri Lanka tournament will be played across four Colombo venues between the 7th and the 21st of February.

Ireland has been drawn in Group A with India, Thailand, Zimbabwe and hosts Sri Lanka. The top three teams from their group will progress to the Super 6 Stage. From there, the top four sides at the end of the Super Six stage will qualify ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while the top two sides will play for the Qualifier Title on the 21st February.

Ireland

After having a successful 2016, The Irish Women’s team are a confident group going into the competition. Ireland defeated South Africa in both a T20I and an ODI for the first time, while they also had a drawn series against Bangladesh. This is after the ICC World T20 in India at the start of the year. The team will be boosted by the displays of both Kim Garth & Isobel Joyce, who were the first Irish players to make their debuts in the WBBL in Australia during the winter.

The team has had good preparation before going out to Sri Lanka, where they had pre-tournament camps in La Manga and Dubai since the New Year. They also had two warm up wins against Scotland in Dubai, while playing their final warm up game before the competition against Bangladesh yesterday in Colombo, losing my 28 runs.

There are chances for some individual achievements to be made on this tour, with Amy Kenealy is in line to make her 50th cap for Ireland. There is a chance for Ciara Metcalfe to achieve 50 ODI Caps, while Robyn Lewis could make her ODI debut for Ireland in the tournament.

Key Player: Kim Garth

Garth goes into the tournament after an excellent year behind here. She was named as part of the ICC Women’s Team of the Year for 2016, as well as being in the Sydney 6ers squad that won the WBBL last month. She showed her success with the ball in the death overs in that competition and it will be crucial for her to choke opposing teams in the latter part of their innings. Along with this, the all-rounder will provide Ireland with solid contributions in the middle order. She has shown this with her highest scores of 72* and 51* in ODIs against South Africa in that successful series during the summer of 2016.

IRELAND WOMEN WCQ SQUAD (Sri Lanka – Feb 7th-21st 2017)

Laura Delany (C) (Leinster/Dragons), Kim Garth (Pembroke/Scorchers), Cecelia Joyce (Merrion/Dragons), Isobel Joyce (Merrion/Scorchers), Shauna Kavanagh (Pembroke/Dragons), Meg Kendal (Pembroke/Scorchers), Amy Kenealy (Leinster/Typhoons), Gaby Lewis (YMCA/Dragons), Robyn Lewis (YMCA/Typhoons), Ciara Metcalfe (The Hills/Dragons), Louise McCarthy (Pembroke/Dragons), Lucy O’Reilly (YMCA/Scorchers), Clare Shillington (YMCA/Typhoons), Mary Waldron (Malahide/Dragons).

Fixtures:

Tue 7th Feb – Ireland vs. Zimbabwe

Time: 4:30am
Venue: Mercantile Cricket Association Ground, Colombo

Wed 8th Feb: Ireland vs. Sri Lanka

Time: 4:30am
Venue: Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground, Colombo

Thu 9th Feb: Rest / Reserve Day

Fri 10th Feb: Ireland vs. India (Live Stream)

Time: 4:30am
Venue: P Sara Oval, Colombo

Sat 11th Feb: Ireland vs. Thailand

Time: 4:30am
Venue: Colombo Cricket Club Ground, Colombo


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