Bready all-rounder Davy Scanlon, has been included in the coaching and support team for Ireland Women ahead of their series against England that gets underway this weekend. The 40-year-old believes the move into high performance coaching is the natural next step in his career.

He has been coaching with the Dragons in the Super Series this year, as well as being part of the national pathway coaching set-up, most notably at the recent women’s under-19s tournament in Loughborough.

“I'm really excited to get involved in the England series – to take on England at home is as big as it can get, and I’m thankful to Ed Joyce, Cricket Ireland and the North West for giving me the chance to experience something of this magnitude,” said Scanlon.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to contribute to the coaching side as much as I can. I’ve been coaching with the Dragons this year, so I've been able to get to know the players a lot more, which will help.

“It’s opportunities like this, and being with the under-19s last week, that will help further develop my coaching skills. Moving from participation programmes into the performance space has been something that I've wanted to do for the past couple of years.

“Getting the opportunity to head up the female section within the North West was a great start. The level of talent we have coming through has made it easier in that switch in focus as there's a real drive to develop the game in the North West, as well as the whole of Ireland.

“But coaching, while not new to me, is a career I really want to pursue. When I started coaching some 20 years ago, I really enjoyed working in developing numbers, and getting young players involved in the game. I believe I've done a decent enough job at that, so moving into the performance space was quite natural to me. The opportunity to get involved in the women’s game was something I was really interested in, and was something the North West encouraged.

Looking ahead to the five matches against England, Scanlon added:

“I expect a really high level of cricket from some of the most exciting talent within the English set up. Being recently in Loughborough at the national school games, you saw the level of players at their disposal at even the under-19s level.

“It will be exciting for our squad to take on an English team that features full internationals, as well as players that play in the domestic county competitions and The Hundred.

“The recent Sri Lanka series should give our players confidence that they can compete with the very best in the world. Everyone played a part in winning that ODI series last month, but we must come hard again and perform to the best of our abilities to take on this next challenge.”

There will be a familiar face in the squad for Scanlon, with fellow Bready player Alana Dalzell part of the team for the ODI portion of the games. The 23-year-old has won 12 caps and played in the win over Sri Lanka last month.