Photo Credit: Oisin Keniry
The International Cricket Council today released its first-ever multi-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the women’s game which will see Ireland Women play series against eight of the world’s top ten sides between 2022 and 2025.
The ICC release states that:
Teams will play three-match bilateral ODI series as part of the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championships, ahead of the next women’s 50-over World Cup in India in 2025. Many of those three-game ODI series are accompanied by corresponding T20I series, with some teams opting to play five-game T20I series alongside the ICC Women’s Championships fixtures.
All bilateral T20I matches count towards respective team rankings, which in turn serves as a primary mechanism for determining the teams that qualify for ICC global events.
Recently, the ICC also released the venues for every major women’s tournament until 2027, being:
• February 2023 – Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa
• September / October 2024 – Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh
• September / October 2025 – Women’s Cricket World Cup in India
• June 2026 – Women’s T20 World Cup in England
• February 2027 – Women’s T20 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka
Ireland Women’s schedule under the FTP (already commenced) features:
2022
• June 2022: Ireland Women v South Africa in Ireland (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is)
• July 2022: Ireland Women, Australia and Pakistan in Ireland (4 T20Is each in a Tri-Series)
• November 2022: Pakistan v Ireland Women in Pakistan (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is)
2023
• June 2023: West Indies v Ireland Women in Caribbean (3 ODIs and 5 T20Is)
• July 2023: Ireland Women v Australia in Ireland (3 ODIs)
2024
• August 2024: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka in Ireland (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is)
• September 2024: Ireland Women v England in Ireland (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is)
• December 2024: Bangladesh v Ireland Women in Bangladesh (3 ODIs and 5 T20Is)
2025
• January 2025: India v Ireland Women in India (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is)
Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said:
“When we set out on our journey to enhance and invest in the international women’s cricket programme in Ireland in 2019, this is the playing schedule we envisioned being part of. The squad’s involvement in the first-ever women’s FTP is immense for the future of the women’s game here, as it locks in 47 international fixtures home-and-away against most of the world’s top sides over a four year cycle. The opportunities and experiences this schedule offers our players is beyond what past generations dreamt of.
“While the FTP outlined guarantees a busy schedule for the women’s squad, this playing programme will be further filled out by bilateral series’ against Associate nations, and warm-up and competitive matches as part of ICC events during the period.
“This further reinforces the need for Cricket Ireland to have gone down the path of professionalizing the women’s game, of which we now have 21 players on contract. And the further investment further down the performance pathway programme – in the Super Series, Academy, under-age national teams and coaching structures – means that Ireland is moving into a new era for women’s cricket, which is both exciting for players and fans, but also crucial for the growth and sustainability of the sport going forward.”
IRELAND WOMEN’S PLAYING CONTRACTS
There are now 21 playing contracts for the Ireland Women’s squad:
International (full-time) contracts
• Laura Delany, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Sophie MacMahon, Cara Murray, Celeste Raack, Mary Waldron.
Education (part-time) contracts
• Ava Canning, Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Jane Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Rebecca Stokell.
Non-retainer contracts
• Rachel Delaney, Sarah Forbes, Hannah Little, Kate McEvoy, Eimear Richardson.
NEXT UPCOMING TOUR
The fixtures are:
• Monday 22 August: Netherlands Women v Ireland Women, 1st ODI (VRA Amstelveen)
• Wednesday 24 August: Netherlands Women v Ireland Women, 2nd ODI (VRA Amstelveen)
• Friday 26 August: Netherlands Women v Ireland Women, 3rd ODI (VCC Voorburg)
