This summer is shaping up nicely for the Irish Women's cricket team. In 2015 Ireland will compete against world champions Australia in Dublin, after their Ashes tour to England. Ireland will also have some hugely important games either side of this, including the ICC Women’s World t20 Qualifiers in Bangkok, the ECB Women’s County Championship and ECB Women’s t20 Cup.
The Australian fixtures in Dublin are as follows –
Wed Aug 19th (20 ovs) 1st t20IIreland Women v Australia Women - Venue TBC
Fri Aug 21st(20 ovs) 2nd t20IIreland Women v Australia Women - Venue TBC
Sat Aug 22nd(20 ovs) 3rd t20IIreland Women v Australia Women - Venue TBC
Ireland's success in last year’s County Champs means it looks from the outside like players are getting to know each other and the team is playing to their strengths. Yes, the topic of who is the next Irish coach is still floating around cricket circles, but in the meantime the girls are not standing still and have been working hard, doing their best with what they have.
Whilst in the past Ireland have hosted sides, including South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka, the preparations for both on and off-the-field have never hit the heights. The days when such opportunities to put our game in front of the public could be ignored have well and truly gone. Now it is the time: women’s sport in general is undergoing a revolution and with a lot more people are becoming interested in team based activities, Irish cricket, especially the women’s game must invest in growth and capitalise on this new attention.
The modern world of social media has given exposure to women’s sport and achievements with hash-tags #roadtorio #coygig #wrwc2014 becoming synonymous with various women's sport in Ireland. Why shouldn't cricket have its own attention gaining hash-tags? Our Irish Women's cricket team regularly compete on the world stage with World Cups at 50 and 20 overs at the top level. Women’s cricket in Ireland is a great product with great possibilities of playing around the world and in world cups.
Back in November the Cricket Leinster women's committee submitted a proposal for a "Super 3's" competition to resurrect the Pilkington Cup. There has been no official announcement from Cricket Ireland or Cricket Leinster, the word on the street is that it is going ahead.
As we go to print, all domestic cricket fixtures for the 2015 season are being made and scheduled. The women's domestic fixtures and Cups will be available in late February. The Cricket Leinster women's committee are planning a face-lift for the women's game with a fresh approach.
Marketing and communication tools are being made available to all clubs. It is hoped with some more T.L.C. the participation numbers will rise and cricket will once again start to compete with other summer sports that have flown out ahead in past years.
Returning to the topic of the Australians arriving next summer, it is hoped that there will be a greater interest, a much bigger turnout and that there is really a build-up to these games. Surely we all want to be supporting the girls in green and viewing our next batch of talent playing against the top female cricketers in the world.
It is not every day that Ireland get to host world champions such as Meg Manning and Ellyse Perry, and every aspiring female cricketer must get to the games and see such stars in action (on and off the field). Other female sports make efforts to attract such crowds, and cricket can not ignore the competition for future players.