Ireland face the Netherlands today with a place in the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup as a winner take all prize.
Both sides offered little resistance in semi final defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the qualifying tournament which has drawn crowds to venues around the country over the past week.
That would have been the end of the road for planning for a World Cup Finals but a change in regulations decided by the International Cricket Council in June extended the qualifying places available from this tournament from one to three and has opened up a great opportunity for the women’s national team.
The World Cup Finals themselves will take place in Bangladesh in March and April 2014, alongside the men’s tournament for which Ireland have already qualified.
Women’s cricket is a key area for development at international level and the expansion of the finals from eight to ten teams with Associate nations getting additional chances could be a major boost for the game in Ireland.
Reigning world champions Australia hiked pay for top women players in May of this year to a level of AU$80,000 and sponsorship for the women’s game is being encouraged and fostered among the main partners of the sport at international level.
Today’s match, which gets underway at 2pm will be televise online, free of charge, at icc-cricket.com.
Five of the 14 strong squad are teenagers and Lucy O’Reilly, aged 13, is the second youngest player to have competed internationally in the history of the sport. She plays her club cricket at today’s venue, visible from the Dart line in Sandymount in Dublin.
Ireland are ranked number three from the teams that have been competing and are unbeaten in five T20 One Day internationals against the Netherlands. It is to be hoped that the additional pressure of a World Cup Finals place does not get in the way of what would be a historic win.
Cricket Ireland and over 20 National Governing Sports Bodies are full members of the Sport for Business Community Discover the benefits of joining them today.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
