15-player Ireland team announced for the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup:
Cricket Ireland has named their 15-player squad for the forthcoming Under-19 T20 World cup in the first month of 2023. The T20 World cup for the Under 19 teams is taking place for the first time which has prompted a wave of excitement through the young guns of the game. After being delayed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be staged now in 2023 in South Africa. According to the squad, Amy Hunter will lead the young Irish women while Siúin Woods will serve as her deputy.
The 15-women squad is as follows:
Amy Hunter (c), Siúin Woods, Zara Craig, Georgina Dempsey, Rebecca Gough, Abbi Harrison, Jennifer Jackson, Joanna Loughran, Niamh MacNulty, Aimee Maguire, Kia McCartney, Ellie McGee, Julie McNally, Freya Sargent, Annabel Squires.
Non-travelling reserves include:
Aoife Fisher and Alice Walsh.
Glenn Querl after announcing the squad talked about the announced the team in the following words: “The squad travelled to Spain at the end of October for practice games and spent some quality time fine-tuning their skills. The group is made up of some very exciting all-rounders who offer quality with both bat and ball. There are also very promising spin and seam options. We also have the experience of Amy Hunter and Georgina Dempsey who both have full international caps to balance the inexperience of the younger players. Ten out of the 15-player squad will be available for the following World Cup cycle which is a very exciting place to be as a squad.”
The Irish women will leave for South Africa on 1st of January for a preparation camp at the University of Pretoria. During the same week, the under-19 team of the Irish women will play two unofficial warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and UAE, which will be followed by the official warm-up fixtures against Pakistan and Namibia women. The group-fellows of the women in light green are Indonesia, New Zealand and West Indies.
The Irish will start their World cup campaign on 15th of January where they will play their opening match against West Indies at North-West University Oval. Followed by a fixture against New Zealand and Indonesia respectively.