GREEN FOR GO – Ireland eye World Cup upset

Ireland may not be the first country you think of when talking about cricket, but they’re one to watch at this year’s ICC T20 Women’s World Cup. Clare McEwen speaks to all-rounder Leah Paul ahead of the World Cup.

In their recent tri-series on home soil they beat both Pakistan and the West Indies. 

All-rounder Orla Prendergast is a serial danger with both bat and ball. Arlene Kelly is a dependable bowler – instrumental in their qualification campaign. And captain Gaby Lewis has scored more T20I runs than anyone else since the previous World Cup – a tally of over 800. 

The team became fully professional in March 2022, and their recent progress reflects that. Currently at number nine in the T20I rankings, they feel they can beat anyone on their day.

Be prepared for Ireland to cause an upset or two.

What does being part of the T20 World Cup mean to you?

As a group, it’s really exciting for us.  For a lot of the girls, this is their first World Cup – for a few of us, our second World Cup.

Being able to put our skills out there on the global stage and really test ourselves against some of the best teams is something that we’re really excited for.

And getting to play on TV, being on Sky Sports is great – for people in Ireland to be able to see women’s cricket out there.

Hopefully it’ll inspire some young girls and boys to pick up the game. 

It’s quite a minority sport in Ireland, so any coverage we can get is really great.

What’s your first memory of a T20 World Cup? 

Probably the last one I played in, in South Africa in 2023. 

For most of us, that was the first time we’d qualified as a group – I think some of the older girls were in one before that too.

Just the experience of the buzz around it. The high-profile event that it is, was something that we weren’t used to – something we really enjoyed.

Taking those experiences into this World Cup is something that we’re looking forward to doing.

What do you enjoy about the T20 format? 

Probably the quickness of the game.  The game can change with any delivery. So I think that aspect of it, the ebbs and flows of the T20 game. 

It’s always very exciting. And I guess, any team can probably beat any team on a given day. 

That is something we’re looking forward to – hopefully causing a few upsets.

What else are you hoping to get out of the tournament this time around? 

We’ve beaten a few teams higher than us in the past couple of years – in series and in games – and, for us, it’s looking for consistency now. 

We know that if we put performances together on a day, we can beat a lot of teams around the world.  And hopefully now, being able to do that on the biggest stages. 

That’s what we’re looking to do. 

Which opponents are you most looking forward to playing? 

We have a great rivalry with Scotland.

We play them a good bit and we always have really good matches against them. 

They’ve probably got the better of us in recent years.

We know their side very well and it’s probably one that we’re most looking forward to.

How do you feel about playing at the big, iconic grounds?

Yeah, it’s really exciting. 

The past few years being in the Women’s Championship, we’ve had exposure to playing at some of the best grounds around the world – and some of the bigger stadiums. 

It’s something we don’t have in Ireland, so it takes a bit of getting used to. But it’s really exciting. 

I know there’s a lot of people coming over from Ireland, so I think having that crowd is something we’re hoping to really thrive off. 

How would you describe Ireland’s progress over the last few years? 

We have a few world-class players in our side and, as a whole, we’ve really progressed in every facet.

We became a professional team, which itself is massive progress.

Now people can play cricket for a living in Ireland, which is something that didn’t used to be possible. 

So with that, we’ve naturally progressed a lot throughout the past few years. 

Have you got any young players or emerging stars we should be watching out for?

Ava Canning. She might not be emerging, she’s been in the side for a while, but coming back from injury this tri-series. 

I think she’s the highest wicket taker at the moment and she’s been brilliant with the new ball and getting us off to a really good start.

Why should people unfamiliar with women’s cricket watch the T20 World Cup? Sell it to us.

It’s just a really exciting game to watch. 

Maybe people don’t understand the calibre of the athleticism needed with the catching, bowling, speed of the ball – the different nature of the game. 

What’s the mood been like in the camp, especially given that you’re having a good tri-series?

It’s been great. We’re starting to really believe that we can compete with some of those best teams in the world.

And that’s probably due to the progress and the results we’ve had over the past few years.

As I said, it’s trying to do that consistently.  

We know that if we all perform to our best ability, we can definitely compete with every team in the world. 

So it’s just trying to back that up, game on game. But there’s a strong belief in this group that we can win a few games.

How do you feel your season is going so far? 

Yeah, I’m happy with the season, I guess.

These are our first internationals and we’ve had some domestic games over in Ireland, as a lead-up to our tri-series. 

I’m playing in a familiar role, in the middle order, so I’m happy with how it’s going.

Hopefully I can continue into the World Cup.

Credits: Cricket Ireland, ICC

Ireland’s T20 WWC fixtures

Sat 13th June 10:30: v Scotland, Old Trafford

Tues 16th June 18:30: v England, Hampshire Bowl

Fri 19th June 18:30: v New Zealand, Hampshire Bowl

Tues 23rd June 14:30: v Sri Lanka, Bristol

Sat 27th June 14:30: v West Indies, Bristol

All matches live on Sky Sports.
The Ireland v Scotland game will be free-to-air on Sky Mix (Freeview channel 11; Freesat channel 144; Sky channel 151)
Ireland’s remaining group fixtures will be available for free on the Sky Sports app.