Photo Credit: Pakistan Cricket Board
The Ireland Women’s squad have been training at the Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the first match of their first-ever tour of Pakistan. One-Day International opener Leah Paul was talking from training today.
Paul, 23, made her international debut in 2017 and has 45 caps to date (15 ODIs and 30 T20Is). Recently promoted up to open with Gaby Lewis in ODI cricket, Paul’s batting has blossomed in the 50-over format, striking back-to-back half-centuries against Zimbabwe in late 2021, and compiling a record high score for Ireland Women of 137 against the Netherlands in mid-2022.
Asked how the first few days of the tour have gone, Paul said:
“We’ve had an excellent few days here in Lahore, everyone has been so welcoming and the hospitality has been great. We’re getting used to the local conditions slowly but surely, and hopefully we’ll be ready on Friday for Game One.
“Training here at the Gaddafi Stadium for the past three days has given us a great insight into how the pitch on Friday will likely play, and we have developed a range of plans for what we are expecting.
“We know Pakistan have a number of quality spinners that will look to dominate in these conditions, so we’ve been working on individual batting plans to counteract this based around each of our individual strengths.”
Asked how the two sides sized up, she said:
“Our teams are pretty evenly matched, and we know that if we perform to our best we can beat them – it will need to be a team performance, but in that, individuals within the team will need to put their specific plans into action.”
Since moving to the top of the order in ODIs, what does Paul put down to her greater consistency with the bat:
“I think I’ve been giving myself a bit of time to get in at the start and been batting with the mindset to play a long game in the ODIs, backing myself to catch up towards the back end of the innings.”
Paul is yet to play in this part of Asia – how does she feel she will need to adapt her game?
“A good few of us haven’t played in the subcontinent before, so we have spoken about sticking to our own strengths – there will be a bit of adapting to do, but with the Women’s Championship fixture list we’ll be playing over here a bit, so this series is the start of our squad getting used to these types of conditions.”
Latest update
The start times for the ODIs have moved to 9.30am – half an hour earlier than previously advised.
