Delany to captain Ireland women in World Cup qualifier
Knocklyon's Laura Delany will lead the Ireland women's cricket squad into their upcoming World Cup qualifier

Delany to captain Ireland women in World Cup qualifier

KNOCKLYON’S Laura Delany will captain the Ireland women’s cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup Global Qualifier in Zimbabwe later this month.

Having only recently been declared the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October, she will now turn her attention to leading this squad of 15 players into their latest challenge.

The Dubliner played a huge part in helping Ireland to a 3-1 ODI series win over Zimbabwe last month, scoring 189 runs at 63, and taking four wickets at 27.

And that performance went a long way to seeing her edge out team mate Gaby Lewis and Zimbabwe’s Mary-Anne Musonda for the ICC accolade.

Also included in the panel for the World Cup qualifier is Bohernabreena woman Mary Waldron, who brings a vast amount of experience to the table for this tournament which will see nine teams compete for three places at the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup, set to be held in New Zealand.

Pitched into Group A, Ireland will take on West Indies Women on November 23 before facing Netherlands two days later and Sri Lanka on November 29.

The top three teams from each group go to the Super 6 stage, with group stage points carrying over to the next phase.

The Ireland women’s cricket team is gearing up for the World Cup qualfier

From there, the top three after the Super 6 phase will qualify for the World Cup.

As a bonus, the top five teams will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship, which is expanding from eight teams to 10.

But first up for the Ireland squad ahead of the tournament will be two warm-up games against Thailand and Pakistan on November 16 and 19 respectively.

Looking ahead to the qualifying tournament, Ireland women’s team head coach Ed Joyce, said “It is clear to see that the players have a determination and clear focus on making this tournament count.

“We know our squad, we have our game plans in place – we just need to execute our skills on the field and, if we do, we will give a good account of ourselves against some of the world’s best teams.

“We saw in Zimbabwe last month the confidence that our batting and bowling units gained from spending time training and playing in Zimbabwean conditions – especially how to adapt to altitude and dealing with the challenges of touring life.

“The facilities were first-rate, and that tour, I believe, saw a number of our players prove to themselves that they belonged in international cricket” he said.

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