Ciara Johanna Metcalfe (born 29 September 1979) is an Irish former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played as a right-arm

leg break Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

bowler. She appeared in 1

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

, 53

One Day Internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cu ...

and 25

Twenty20 Internationals A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

between 1999 and 2018, playing her final match during the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Ind ...

tournament. She also played in the

Women's Super Series The Women's Super Series, previously known as the Women's Super 3s, is a women's domestic cricket tournament organised by Cricket Ireland. The tournament began in 2015 as a combined Limited overs cricket, 50-over and Twenty20 tournament, with thr ...

for

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

, and spent one season playing for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in 2018.

Career

Metcalfe was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and has played club cricket for

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

and Pembroke. Her debut for Ireland came in June 1999, against an England A team, and her

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) debut came the following month, at the age of 19, when she played three matches at the 1999 European Championship in Denmark.Women's ODI matches played by Ciara Metcalfe
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 December 2015. In July 2000, Metcalfe was selected in Ireland's squad for its inaugural (and, so far, only)

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

match, against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In Pakistan's first innings, she took 4/26 from twelve overs to help bowl the team out for 53. Several months later, Metcalfe was selected in the squad for the 2000 World Cup in New Zealand, although she would only play two matches at the tournament (against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). One of Ireland's best spinners, Metcalfe was a regular in the national team throughout the remainder of the 2000s, although she did not gain selection for the 2005 World Cup in South Africa. In an ODI against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the 2007 European Championship, she took her only five-wicket haul at that level, 5/18 from 8.3 overs. Her performance set a new record for the best ODI bowling figures by an Irishwoman (beating

Susan Bray Susan Bray (born 27 August 1967) is an Irish former cricketer. She played 34 Women's One Day International matches for Ireland women's cricket team. She was part of Ireland's squad for the 1988 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1988 Shell Bicen ...

's 5/27 against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in 1990), although it has since been surpassed. The following year, at the 2008 World Cup Qualifier, Metcalfe took eight wickets at an average of 14.25, behind only

Isobel Joyce Isobel Mary Helen Cecilia Joyce (born 25 July 1983) is an Irish former cricketer. She played as a right-handed batter and left-arm medium pace bowler. She appeared in one Test match, 79 One Day Internationals and 55 Twenty20 Internationals for ...

for Ireland. Metcalfe announced her retirement from international cricket in 2011, concluding her ODI career with figures of 4/27 against Sri Lanka. In 42 ODIs, she took 50 wickets at an average of 25.08, placing her behind only Isobel Joyce and Barbara McDonald in terms of wickets taken for Ireland. In 2015, however, Metcalfe announced that she would again be available for the national team. Her international appearances since her return have all been at

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

level, and have included a series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and matches at the 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier. In June 2018, she was named in Ireland's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament held from 7 to 14 July 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the third edition of the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and was the qualification tournament ...

tournament. During the tournament match against

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, she took her 100th wicket for Ireland. In October 2018, she was named in Ireland's squad for the

. She announced that she would retire from international cricket at the end of the tournament.

References

External links

Ciara Metcalfe at CricketArchive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Ciara 1979 births Living people Ireland women One Day International cricketers Ireland women Test cricketers Ireland women Twenty20 International cricketers Irish women cricketers Cricketers from County Dublin Irish cricket coaches Irish women cricket captains Dragons (women's cricket) cricketers Northamptonshire women cricketers