The Ireland women's cricket team represents

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in international

women's cricket Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...

. Cricket in Ireland is governed by

Cricket Ireland Cricket Ireland (formerly the Irish Cricket Union) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and oversees the national Ireland cricket team, men' ...

and organised on an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

basis, meaning the Irish women's team represents both

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Ireland made its

One-Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut in 1987, against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the following year played at the 1988 World Cup, making the first of five appearances at the tournament. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Ireland was considered to be a top-level team, playing regular ODI series and placing as high as fifth at the World Cup ( in 1993, out of eight teams). In 2000, the team played its only Test match, defeating the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

women's team. Although it still retains ODI status, Ireland has not qualified for a World Cup since the 2005 event. The team has, however, qualified for the

ICC World Twenty20 The ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly the ICC World Twenty20, is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in every odd year from 2007 to 2009, ...

on two occasions, in 2014 and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. In December 2018, Cricket Ireland offered professional contracts to the women players for the first time. In April 2021, the ICC awarded permanent

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) ...

and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) status to all full member women's teams.

History

1980s

The Irish women's team entered the international arena well before their male counterparts, playing their first ODIs in a three match series against

in 1987, a full 19 years before the men's team would make their ODI debut. They lost all three games by more than 100 runs, but were still invited to take part in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

the following year in Australia. In that World Cup, they finished fourth, losing to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the third place play-off game. Ireland subsequently came fourth of five in the tournament, with Ireland's only two wins both came against

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The next year, Ireland took part in the first Women's European Championship in Denmark, finishing fourth on run rate, with their only win coming against the hosts.

1990s

The first two years of the 1990s again saw Ireland compete in the European Championships, finishing as runners up to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1990, and third place in 1991. Sandwiched between those two tournaments was a 2 match ODI series against England, with England winning both games, the second by 10 wickets. 1993 saw them compete in the World Cup again, this time finishing in fifth place. The next European Championship in 1995 again saw them finish as runners up to England. Following this, they settled into a pattern of playing ODIs against whichever team was touring England, a pattern that continues to this day. The 1997 World Cup saw them lose to New Zealand in the quarter-finals. The end of the 1990s saw them again finish as runners up to England in the European Championship in 1999.

2000s

Ireland played their first ever Test match in 2000, beating

by an innings inside two days in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. This is still their only Test match however. They also dominated the ODI series against Pakistan, winning 4–0 with a fifth game rained off. They still could only finish seventh in the World Cup later that year though, their only win coming against The Netherlands. The following year, they won the European Championship, and that remains the only time out of seven tournaments that the England team had not won the competition. That seventh place meant that they had to take part in the

2003 IWCC Trophy The 2003 IWCC Trophy was an international women's cricket tournament held in the Netherlands from 21 to 26 July 2003. Organised by the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC). It was the inaugural edition of what is now the World Cup Qualif ...

, the inaugural edition of what is now known simply as the

World Cup Qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

. They won every game in that tournament, which qualified them for the world cup in South Africa in 2005. They came last in that tournament, meaning they will have to qualify again for the 2009 World Cup. Later in the year, they yet again finished as runners up to England in the European Championship. They played a two match ODI series against the Netherlands, winning both games. In November 2007, they went to the Women's World Cup Qualifier in Lahore, where they played

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

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Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and an African qualifier. In 2009, Ireland beat

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to win the European Championship. In April 2016,

Laura Delany Laura Katherine Delany (born 23 December 1992) is an Irish cricketer who currently Captain (cricket), captains Typhoons (women's cricket), Typhoons. She is a right-handed Batting (cricket), batter and right-arm Fast bowling, medium pace Bowling ( ...

was named as captain of Ireland women's cricket team replacing

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 fo ...

who stepped down after the

2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2016 Women's World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup, Women's World Twenty20, the world championship of women's Twenty20 International cricket. India hosted the event for the first time, with matches played from 1 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In December 2020, the ICC announced the qualification pathway for the

2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2023 Women's T20 World Cup was the eighth edition of Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in South Africa between 10 February and 26 February 2023. The final took place at Cape Town. Australia won their sixth and third consecutiv ...

. Ireland were named in the

2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier The 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played in August 2021 in Spain. The matches were played as Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), with the top team progressing to the 2022 ICC Women's T20 ...

regional group, alongside five other teams. In 2021, Ireland were awarded qualification for the 2022–25 ICC Women's Championship on the basis of their WODI ranking after the abandonment of the

2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Zimbabwe in November and December 2021. The tournament was the final part of the qualification process for the 2022 Women's Cricket Worl ...

. On 23 January 2024, Cara Murray became the first Irish player to take six wickets in a WODI with 6/31 against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Tournament history

ICC Women's World Cup

ECC Women's European Cricket Championship

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

ICC Women's World T20

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier

Cricket at Summer Olympics Games

ICC Women's T20 Champions Trophy

Squad

This lists all the players with a central contract with Cricket Ireland or were named in the most recent ODI or T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in ''italics'' ''Updated as of 11 September 2024''.

Records

International match summary – Ireland Women ''Last updated 18 April 2025.''

Test matches

*Highest team total: 193/3 declared v.

on 30 July 2000 at Trinity College Park,

. *Highest individual score: 68 *, Caitriona Beggs v.

on 30 July 2000 at Trinity College Park,

. *Best innings bowling: 6/21,

on 30 July 2000 at Trinity College Park,

. Test record versus other nations ''Records complete to Women's Test #111. Last updated 30 July 2000.''

One-Day Internationals

*Highest team total: 337/8 v.

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 24 August 2022 at

VRA Cricket Ground VRA Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, the home of VRA Amsterdam since 1939. It regularly plays host to the Netherlands home games in the World Cricket League, Intercontinental Cup and CB40. This ground was fi ...

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 202 ...

. *Highest individual score: 137,

Leah Paul Leah Paul (born 10 September 1999) is an Irish cricketer. She plays international cricket for Ireland and domestic cricket in the Women's Super Series for the Scorchers. International Career Paul made her Women's One Day International (WODI) ...

on 24 August 2022 at

. *Best innings bowling: 6/31, Cara Murray v.

on 23 January 2024 at

Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a cricket stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for cricket matches, and has served as the primary c ...

. Most ODI runs for Ireland Women Most ODI wickets for Ireland Women Highest individual innings in Women's ODI Best bowling figures in an innings in Women's ODI ODI record versus other nations ''Records complete to WODI #1454. Last updated 18 April 2025.''

Twenty20 Internationals

*Highest team total: 213/4, v

on 12 August 2019 at Sportpark Het Schootsveld,

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

. *Highest individual innings: 119, Gaby Lewis v

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 13 August 2024 at

Sydney Parade Sydney Parade is a cricket ground in Dublin, Ireland. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1897, when Pembroke played Leicester Ivanhoe. In 1965, the ground hosted a first-class match between Ireland and Scotland, which resulted in ...

. *Best innings bowling: 5/12, Arlene Kelly v

on 14 August 2023 at

. Most WT20I runs for Ireland Women Most WT20I wickets for Ireland Women WT20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to WT20I #2151. Last updated 9 December 2024.''

History

1980s

1990s

2000s

Tournament history

ICC Women's World Cup

ECC Women's European Cricket Championship

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

ICC Women's World T20

ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier

Cricket at Summer Olympics Games

ICC Women's T20 Champions Trophy

Squad

Records

Test matches

One-Day Internationals

Twenty20 Internationals

See also

References

Further reading