Are they ready for Nepal?

Dave Sihra (Substack - Dave Meets Ball)

The inevitable question after the recent tour to South Africa with everything that's on the line: are Ireland ready for the Global T20 World Cup Qualifier event in Nepal early next year.

The upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in England would of course be massive if Ireland were to qualify. A short flight to England this summer would be a nice easy one for Ireland fans. The distance also would be handy for media coverage.

It could be a sliding doors moment for coverage of the sport in Ireland.

2023 was when Ireland Women last qualified for a global tournament. They just missed out on the 2024 T20 World Cup, and then gave away winning positions at the ODI World Cup Qualifier earlier this year in Pakistan. There’s probably a point or two to prove.

All of this puts massive significance on the Global T20 World Cup qualifier coming up in January. So where are this team with their prep.

Facing South Africa on this tour in their own conditions was always going to be extremely challenging. They have been runner-up in the last three World Cups, not to mention their Under-19s side were also runner-up at the recent U-19 World Cup in Malaysia.

South Africa made the semi-final of the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia and were again semi-finalists in the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand.

Dane Van Niekerk was of course dropped infamously over fitness issues just before that 2023 home tournament with the team having since pushed on. Now they’ve successfully re-integrated her into the side.

The main good news for Ireland from the tour has been in the spin department with the return of Aimee Maguire since remodeling her bowling action. The left arm finger spinner even looks stronger at the crease and maybe even slightly taller since she last played for Ireland in January.

For Aimee to come back as she has done takes bravery, and those same qualities were on show again with her flight at the Wanderers in the final ODI. Faye Tunnicliffe had just hit her for six in the 27th over. Next ball Aimee does the exact same again, she wasn’t deterred. It’s thrown up by Maguire who beats Tunnicliffe in the air. Dot ball.

In stark contrast, Cara Murray looked a bit short of rhythm bowling having helped shoulder the spin bowling burden for most of a year with no Aimee Maguire and also no Freya Sargent due to injury.

Murray was noticeably slower in the air in her first outing at Paarl in the second T20I. Then later at Gqeberha in the second ODI, the Waringstown leg-spinner bowled much quicker and flatter into the surface. But she did notably struggle with her accuracy, even bowling a double bouncer.

There’s perhaps the argument that Murray wanted to go slower in the T20Is to make her bowling harder to hit. Then maybe she opted to bowl flatter in that run-fest second ODI when 676 runs were scored. However when the leg-spinner is at her best like she was during the Irish summer we regularly saw her mix speeds and flight to great effect.

On the Bangladesh tour in 2024, Murray again looked short of rhythm but then was back to business for the ODI Qualifier in Pakistan just a few months later. Will she make the squad for the trip to Nepal? She should be based on her experience alone.

In conditions that will spin, you’d want three spinners ready to go. But Maguire has certainly jumped back to the top of the pecking order. During the summer we saw off-spinner Lara McBride (19) trusted in the powerplay and you would expect to see that again when up against sides perhaps lacking the power South Africa demonstrated over the last few weeks.

One surprise from the tour was Leah Paul only bowling 2.5 overs of her left arm spin having bowled quite a bit during the summer for Ireland and the Typhoons.

With the return of Aimee Maguire there’s of course less need for another left arm spinner, but Leah’s spin could become handy if Ireland decide to travel to Nepal without Cara Murray.

The Merrion allrounder however had a decent tour with the bat and was Ireland’s highest run scorer in the T20Is, so the tactic of taking away her bowling responsibilities perhaps worked out for the best.

On the seam front Orla Prendergast, Jane Maguire, Ava Canning and Arlene Kelly all had their moments. We saw just the nine overs from Laura Delany but may see more of her bowling across the qualifier event with her change ups likely to get extra grip off of turning wickets.

Prendergast’s pace and bounce up top though could prove decisive against sides at the qualifier not used to that point of difference.

Gaby Lewis, Amy Hunter along with Prendergast all looked in decent form with bat - Lewis especially so from the very start of the tour.

Fielding however remains the main issue for this team, and it was put under serious pressure from this very strong South African batting order. Drops at St George’s Park on a very flat wicket of course seriously highlighted this when Van Neirkerk was put down earlier in her innings only to cause much more damage.

South Africa did have a few drops of their own, but just look at the dismissals of Sarah Forbes in Game Two and Three of the ODI series. Both times she absolutely middled it however good catches from Jones and Wolvaardt immediately put the pressure back on Ireland.

Ten teams will go to the Global T20 World Cup Qualifier. Four will progress to the 2026 T20 World Cup next summer in England.

Ireland should qualify given we’re the highest ranked team at the event. We even beat Bangladesh, the next highest ranked team 3-0 away recently enough.

But ICC qualifier events can be strange beasts. A washout or two and the pressure can dial up.

Ireland lost comprehensively to the USA at the Under-19 Women’s World Cup in Malaysia earlier this year by 9 wickets. It was a difficult day for the team on a challenging World Cup campaign.

Lara McBride featured for Ireland Under-19s in that game at Johor, and there will probably be a few players from the opposition that day who’ll make the USA’s squad for Nepal. Just one to keep an eye on next month as they’re also in our group.

If a lower ranked side were to get a result against this Ireland team, fielding is probably an area where they can be out-played. And if this side is to fulfill the dream of possibly qualifying for the 2028 Olympics at Los Angeles, fielding could well be the area that holds Ireland back.

Perhaps the bad thing about the recent tour is that it has seriously highlighted this weakness ahead of the Global Qualifier for all to see. But maybe the good thing is that it has highlighted this weakness ahead of the Global Qualifier to make the changes required.

This article was originally published on Dave Sihra’s Substack: Dave Meets Ball