Ireland Women's squad named for upcoming South Africa series

Selectors have today named a 14-player Ireland Women’s squad who will take on South Africa Women in a six-match multi-format series in Dublin next month, with four uncapped players potentially looking to make their international debuts.

As a result of injuries and player unavailability (primarily due to school/college exams), head coach Ed Joyce is without eight of his 20 senior performance squad members for the series, with selectors opting to bring in four possible debutants, including New Zealand-born Arlene Kelly. Kelly, 28, who plays for Auckland Hearts in New Zealand, is an Irish passport-holder who recently relocated to Ireland to pursue cricket opportunities. She has featured for the Dragons in the early stages of the Arachas Super Series, claiming Player of the Match honours on debut after scoring 60 and taking 3-35 against the Typhoons at Lisburn.

In the absence of regular captain Laura Delany (recovering from injury), Gaby Lewis will lead the international side for the first time. While still only 21, Lewis has amassed 88 caps so far and is Ireland Women’s fifth-highest run-scorer across all formats. She also becomes the first child of a former Irish cricket captain to lead her country, following in the footsteps of her father Alan Lewis who led Ireland Men 35 times.

The four potential debutants are Alana Dalzell (Bready CC/Dragons), Sarah Forbes (YMCA CC/Dragons), Arlene Kelly (Malahide/Dragons), and Kate McEvoy (YMCA/Dragons) – while Jane Maguire is also in line to make her T20I debut if selected.

SQUAD

The Ireland Women’s squad for the T20Is and ODIs against South Africa is:

Gaby Lewis (captain), Alana Dalzell, Rachel Delaney, Georgina Dempsey, Sarah Forbes, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Kate McEvoy, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Celeste Raack, Mary Waldron.

Gaby Lewis, stand-in captain of Ireland Women, said:

“While it’s unfortunate that we are without our skipper Laura Delany, it’s an absolute honour to be asked to captain Ireland for the first time. The opportunity to take on one of the world’s leading sides is one I am relishing, and I know the squad is looking forward to the challenge. One of the benefits of a competitive domestic Super Series is that – even with up to nine players missing - we are still able to bring in a talented group of players as cover, showing that we are growing our player pool and developing our emerging talent in the right way.”

The three ODIs will be Ireland Women’s first fixtures as part of the ICC Women’s Championship.