All leading to this

Dave Sihra (Substack - Dave Meets Ball)

Does this Women's T20 World Cup have a slightly different feel to it for Ireland? Of course it does.

The obvious point is that they are there. After reaching the 2023 edition and then missing out on two international tournaments following, this exciting side now have their chance to make a big impression on the biggest of stages available to them.

Don’t forget the circumstances with which they didn’t qualify too. First there was the nightmare heartbreak of the qualifier semi-final for the 2024 T20 World Cup against Scotland having been oh so dominant in the matches leading up. Cold sweats at 12-3, anyone?

The year following at the ODI World Cup qualifier event in Pakistan there were tough losses against the home side, West Indies and Bangladesh having done the hard yards to secure winning positions.

Ireland perhaps wouldn’t have been expected to qualify for the main tournament but there was now extra pressure to deal with after recent breakout performances (see the 2024 ODI series win against Sri Lanka).

There were indeed scenes of celebration when Ireland sealed their place in this year’s T20 World Cup at the qualifier event in Nepal earlier this year, but probably much relief too.

Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast, Amy Hunter are talents that need to be at these tournaments. And there are plenty of others in the squad also looking to make a big impact with a bigger audience.

Besides just qualifying, the location is of course also major. The short flight is perfect for fans all across the island to see Ireland play against the best in the world at some of England’s most iconic grounds. For just that, the team must have been relieved to secure their spot all the way back in February.

All of these points come together to make this feel like an absolutely crucial moment for the sport on the island. The location even makes it ideal for Irish media to join the bandwagon should something remarkable come to play.

Much like being a victim of your own success, all of these factors bring an additional pressure too. Can this side deliver moments of magic with the five games ahead and everyone watching?

Speaking just before the start of the tournament head coach Lloyd Tennant pointed to their warm-up game against South Africa and maybe something building: “the last time we played them in South Africa [Dec, 2025] there was a gulf between us, but now - whether it’s confidence or whether it’s skill level, we seem to be getting closer to them”, continuing that “we’ve not closed that gap yet, but we felt we owned the ground a bit better.”

What exactly are the fingerprints of the Lloyd Tennant era since taking over from Ed Joyce last year, and what are seeing with this side? The same foundations are there of course: Lewis, Prendergast, Hunter. There’s more or less the same cast of characters in the mix, plus a few new faces.

Are we potentially beginning to see more fight and adaptability from a group that always showed promise? Ireland didn’t have the best start to the recent tri-series. After a tough loss to West Indies, they roared back into contention with a strong seven wicket win against Pakistan.

Remember Jane Maguire’s last ball six win last year against the same opponents at the same ground? This latest episode of the rivalry had similar plot points but instead was decided by a calculated 60* off 42 from Rebecca Stokell (who also featured in last year’s episode but maybe not as prominently).

Next game had Ireland beat West Indies by just a single run on DLS. OP’s 71 off just 46 was the centerpiece of the chase, but a key moment was the final ball before they went off for rain.

Prendergast signaled to Little on strike that they would need to score off this ball to get ahead of the DLS score with rain about. Lou Lou then obliged with a thick edge down behind square for four. Nothing necessarily ingenious, just savvy a tight spot.

The return of left-arm-spinner Aimee Maguire after having her action reported has happened successfully during the Tennant tenure. (A special word too for spin-coach James Cameron-Dow for his work). But it takes a bit of something extra to rebuild your action, pass the testing, then return to the senior side and put in the performances like Maguire has during the warm-up games opening the bowling (1-13, 4-20). And don’t forget that she was just 18 when her action came under the microscope in India.

In the spin department Lara McBride has also been a strong addition to the bowling attack. But crucially McBride is also someone talked about to have good fighting qualities. If it came to penalties you expect the off-spinner from the Hills might be one of the first to put up her hand.

With potentially an incredible journey ahead, it’s hard not to think about those who just missed out. Laura Delany (33), an incredible servant for Ireland, would have desperately wanted to make it and maybe would have considered bowing out at the tournament. Tennant and Lewis certainly also would have hoped to have her experience in the middle order.

Jane Maguire’s seam bowling and lower order runs will also be missed. But her and Delany can perhaps take heart in the roles they played to make sure Ireland qualified.

Freya Sargent has of course moved away from the system but has been a part of some brilliant Ireland performances and featured in the successful European regional qualifier last year.

A mention too for Sarah Forbes who likely was a pragmatic selection for that qualifier event in Bangladesh. Forbes is better suited to ODI cricket but the thinking perhaps was that this side sometimes just needs to get over line a bit more. It matters not how it looks.

Much has been written about Ireland’s problems in the field, however having Louise Little and Alice Tector on the beat now certainly gives opponents something extra to think about beyond the exceptional fielding of Lewis and Prendergast.

So it all begins tomorrow at 10:30am. I like many others will be on the early flight over. There could be a few of us trying to sneak in some shut eye before the game.

A win against Scotland would set things up nicely for the rest of the group stage, but something remarkable could still happen later even with a loss in our opening game.

After all they’re a group that have already produced shades of something remarkable. Now there’s the stage for it.

This article was originally published on the Substack: Dave Meets Ball