CARA Murray will be facing familiar opposition as Ireland Women play Zimbabwe in the first of five matches over the next eight days.

The 24-year-old has won 85 caps, with 17 of them coming against the African side, including her debut back in 2018. Indeed, Murray has taken 29 of her 84 wickets against them, including her best-bowling figures of six for 31 last year in a One-Day-International.

“We have come up against them quite a lot including one of my happiest memories, beating them in the semi-final in the UAE to secure a World Cup place. 

“Ireland have played them a few series out there, so it will be good for them to come over here and play at our grounds in Pembroke and Stormont. It should be a very competitive, exciting series for everyone.”

Murray has been preparing hard for the series which along with three games against Pakistan form the bulk of Ireland’s preparations for next month’s T20 World Cup qualifiers. She was an integral part of the predominantly Ulster-based Dragons side that clinched a Super Series double last week.

“It was great to win the series with lots of players contributing from the regions, including Orla Prendergast and Arlene Kelly from the South who brought experience to what was a really youthful side,” said Murray.

“The main takeaway for me has been all that we’ve learnt from the matches, in the different situations we have been faced with and managed to come through them all. It’s certainly been pleasing to see the progress made by the young Northern Ireland players in the squad and to see the growth of the game in the region, with more continuing to come through the pathways. It’s really an exciting time for the Dragons with momentum building and hopefully we can take that into next year.”

Her transformation into a leg-spin bowler from a medium-pacer came about after the intervention of former Head Coach Aaron Hamilton.

“I was trying everything when I was younger, pace, off-spin, with the occasional ‘leggie’ that Aaron asked to see, I bowled a few and he instantly liked what he saw and encouraged me to stick with that. I was only 14 at the time, and it’s been a long old slog at times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I worked a lot at the start with Simon Johnston who taught me so much. Nathan Hauritz was another who I really enjoyed learning from, and recently James Cameron-Dow. He was instrumental in changing my action about 18 months ago. I ow take a step and run in, rather than walk, my front arm stays up longer, and also my follow-through driving through the crease. That’s helped me with my consistency, and helping me improve day-on-day.”

It’s the start of a new era for Ireland with the departure of Ed Joyce after more than six years at the helm, replaced by Lloyd Tennant.

“Ed has certainly left the squad in a much stronger position that when he started back in 2018. There were some great highlights along the way including qualification for a World Cup and winning a series in Pakistan which had never been achieved before.

“It’s going to be learning curve for Lloyd coming in and it’s going to be exciting to see how he goes about things the next few months, what changes he implements and what ideas he brings to the squad. It’s going to be tricky for him to learn quickly on the job about 25 different people with their skill-sets and motivations, but it’s certainly an exciting time for all.”

Murray has noticed a huge change in the last decade as Cricket Ireland have made major investments in the sport, including full-time contracts. She graduated from Ulster University in 2023 with a degree in Sports Studies, initially having an educational contract with the governing body, before obtaining a full-time deal last year.

“I actually worked full-time for six months at my old school Wellington College in Belfast after finishing my degree as a classroom assistant and PE Technician with the hockey side of things coaching, which I absolutely loved.

“It was great to be given a full-time deal by Cricket Ireland and it’s allowed the group to concentrate on developing and improving all the time. You can see just how much everyone has progressed with the security these contracts provide.”

Her haul of 84 wickets places her seventh on the all-time list, closing in on the 100-wicket milestone only achieved by four Irish Women to date. It hasn’t all been highs though for the affable Murray, who endured a horrible ODI debut – conceding a world record 119 runs against New Zealand as an 18-year-old back in 2018. It says much about her resilience and strength of character that she didn’t let that define her; lesser mortals may have given up.

“I was just so young and obviously still learning,” she said. “My team-mates too were just so supportive helping me, not allowing me to be too down. That’s one of the defining characteristics about this squad. We are a really tight-knit group and if someone has a bad day, then we are all there to encourage them, pull them up and bounce right back.”

It’s the start of an exciting few months for Ireland, who have a World Cup Qualifiers next month in The Netherlands following their home series. With Murray in a positive mood, who would bet against her spinning Ireland Women once more onto the world stage?