Nearest can be dearest for Lewis and Ireland

IRELAND’S women kick off their T20 World Cup campaign at Old Trafford. They’re set to start at 10.30am tomorrow, an hour when Irish sports stars of an earlier generation in Manchester would probably have been on their way home.

It’s a different Old Trafford to the one graced by George Best and Paul McGrath of course, but will nonetheless resound to plenty of Irish accents when Gaby Lewis leads her team out for the opening Group 2 fixture against Scotland.

‘The fact the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is in England this year is a really exciting prospect,’ Lewis said this week. ‘Having the competition so close to home is going to be really special, and it will be great to see as many fans as possible at all of the matches.

‘Often, when you play at World Cups, they are further afield and it’s the hosts or the opposition that brings the fans to the stadiums. It will be nice to have a lot of Irish people travelling and a lot of young kids and girls supporting, who I hope have ambitions to one day play for the team.’

The fitness of Lewis herself has been the main topic of conversation surrounding the team for the past month, since she cut short her stint with Lancashire to nurse a leg injury. Happily, she reports herself fully fit and has played twice this week in Ireland’s warm-up games, including a notable win over Bangladesh.

The Phoenix batter’s fitness is crucial to Ireland’s hopes of success, with a T20 average of 31.5 on a par with the best in the world. She and Amy Hunter have proven destructive at the top of the order, with the ability to continue through an innings, both scoring centuries twice in 20-over internationals. Only legends Laura Wolvaardt, Hayley Matthews and Chamari Athapaththu have scored more.

Lewis’s absence in recent weeks forced coach Lloyd Tennant to experiment with the top order, asking Alana Dalzell to open the batting and bringing Rebecca Stokell at No3.

Unfortunately, the Bready all-rounder had a shocker: making four ducks and one score of 8 in her five innings, including first-ball dismissals in each of her last three outings.

Stokell, usually a middle-order hitter, averaged 32 in the recent Evara Tri-Series, including a match-winning unbeaten 60 against Pakistan.

A top five of Hunter, Lewis, Stokell, Orla Prendergast and Leah Paul suddenly looks very solid indeed, although it badly misses the dependable former captain Laura Delany, cruelly deprived of a place by injury. Below these, Louise Little has had a couple of good seasons at interpro level — including an 86-ball century — but has yet to click for Ireland. Alice Tector missed almost a year through injury but was brought in to replace Delany on the back of a couple of scores in the Evoke Super Series, helping to shore up the fielding.

Lewis has no fears after some strong displays which saw wins over three higher-ranked teams in recent weeks in Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh.

‘Our preparation has been great. Our tri-series against Pakistan and the West Indies here at home was fantastic preparation for the girls. Laura Delany is going to be a big miss, but it is excellent that we have been able to bring in someone like Alice Tector.’

Delany’s experience and canny bowling will also be missed, as will seamer Jane Maguire, the only player in T20I history to face their first ball on the final delivery of a match and hit a six to win it. Her sister Aimee gets a chance to showcase her slow left arm, and put behind the controversy over her action that kept her out for almost a year.

‘There are a lot of players to look out for in our squad,’ says Lewis, ‘and we’ve got some great youngsters. Aimee Maguire has been brilliant for us over the last couple of years, and you can’t pass over the likes of Orla Prendergast and Amy Hunter as well.

‘We don’t rely on one or two players though; we’ve got a real group of match-winners. There’ll be a lot of players putting their hands up in this World Cup and winning games.’

The bowling attack relies heavily on Prendergast and the experienced Arlene Kelly, but Leinster’s Ava Canning has come on in leaps and bounds and in her last six T20 caps this year has taken 11 wickets at an average of just 9 and an economy rate below 5.

‘It’s been great to see the way the group have grown over the last few years. Our average age is quite young, but I think every year that gets said, it’s actually getting higher and higher. The more experienced the girls get, the better they are at international cricket. We don’t have a major provincial set-up that they come through, so they’re learning a lot at international level. The more games they play, the more they learn. They’ve come a long way in the last two years, and hopefully we can build on the last World Cup.’

Much will depend on the result of game one, with old rivals Scotland having the upper hand by winning their last three T20 encounters. If Ireland can counter sisters Kathryn and Sarah Bryce they can kick off the campaign with a win. That’s followed by two tough games in the Rose Bowl against England and New Zealand before they face Sri Lanka and West Indies who Ireland have beaten in recent years.

‘My favourite thing about playing in a World Cup is getting the opportunity to play against top nations in a short period of time,’ says Lewis. ‘There are huge eyes on the tournament as well, and that is great. If you can turn over a few teams, you’re in the spotlight.’

Ireland come blinking into that spotlight at 10.30am tomorrow.

PANEL
WOMEN’S T20
WORLD CUP 2026
13 June: v Scotland (Old Trafford; 10.30am)
16 June: v England (Southampton; 6.30pm)
19 June: v New Zealand (Southampton; 6.30pm)
23 June: v Sri Lanka (Bristol; 2.30pm)
27 June: v West Indies (Bristol; 2.30pm)
All games on Sky Sports Main Event except v NZ and WI which are on Sky Sports+.

BATTERS
Gaby Lewis (Phoenix, age 25) 114 T20s, 3,048 runs av 31.42
Rebecca Stokell (Merrion, 26), 75 T20s, 868 runs av 19.72

WICKET-KEEPERS
Amy Hunter (Instonians, 20), 63 T20s, 1,570 av 30.78
Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf, 22), 11 T20s, 28 runs av 4.67

ALL ROUNDERS
Orla Prendergast (Pembroke, 24) 83 T20s, 1,873 runs av 29.73. 63 wkts av 19.46
Leah Paul (Merrion, 26), 73 T20s, 794 runs av 20.35, 30 wkts av 19.03
Alice Tector (Phoenix, 20), 3 T20s 13 runs av 6.50, yet to bowl
Alana Dalzell (Bready, 25), 22 T20s, 17 runs av 4.25, 17 wkts av 26.82
Louise Little (Pembroke, 23), 38 T20s, 127 runs av 9.77, 2 wkts av 129.00
Georgina Dempsey (Phoenix, 21), 20 T20s, 22 runs av 7.33, 13 wkts av 23.77

BOWLERS
Ava Canning (Leinster, 22) 47 T20s, 32 wkts av 24.06
Arlene Kelly (Malahide, 32), 66 T20s, 88 wkts av 14.54
Aimee Maguire (The Hills, 19), 19 T20s, 18 wkts av 23.94
Lara McBride (The Hills, 20), 18 T20s, 19 wkts av 19.21
Cara Murray (Waringstown, 25), 62 T20s, 45 wkts av 25.68