Cricket Ireland recently announced a four match T20 International Series against Scotland Women from the 23rd – 27th May to be played in Stormont. Three Trinity student athletes have been named in the squad including Rebecca Stokell, Leah Paul, and Rachel Delaney. Ireland and Scotland have met 14 times in the women’s T20Is, with Ireland winning on 11 occasions, Scotland twice and one no result.

The long-awaited return to the international arena for Ireland Women comes after a run of series and tour cancellations during 2020 due to Covid-19, including two scheduled series against Scotland. With two world cup qualifying campaign’s set for 2021, Trinity student athlete, Rebecca Stokell is keen to get as much International cricket as possible over the next few months.

Rebecca commented, “I can’t wait to get back playing. It’s been a long winter with several tours cancelled, which was tough on all of us. The next 8 months are huge for women’s cricket in Ireland. Our top priorities are to qualify from both the T20 World Cup Qualifier set for August and the 50-over World Cup Qualifier in December. These two competitions also determine our ICC ranking, which is going to be very important for us next year.”

Ed Joyce, Ireland Women Head Coach and Trinity Sport ambassador commented, “It goes without saying that we’re pleased to see this series given the green light – with a T20 World Cup Qualifier set for August and a 50-over World Cup Qualifier in December, we need to play as much competitive cricket this year as we can.”

He continued, “The Scots will be a good challenge, and ICC ranking points will be on the line, so we’re very much gearing up for a competitive series. It will also be fantastic to see the Ireland Women’s international team play at Stormont for the first time since 1997. The players application and attitude over the last frustrating 18-20 months has been amazing, so this series is a welcome relief to the group. In addition, we’re also hopeful of having a full and varied fixture list for the team before both sets of qualifiers later this year.”

The series will be played as follows:

23 May 2021: Ireland Women v Scotland Women - 1st T20I (Stormont, starting 1pm)

24 May 2021: Ireland Women v Scotland Women - 2nd T20I (Stormont, starting 1pm)

25 May 2021: Reserve Day (1st and 2nd T20I’s, 2pm start)

26 May 2021: Ireland Women v Scotland Women - 3rd T20I (Stormont, starting 1pm)

27 May 2021: Ireland Women v Scotland Women - 4th T20I (Stormont, starting 11am)

The matches will be livestreamed and livescored via the Cricket Ireland match centre. No spectators are currently permitted at games in Northern Ireland under current government restrictions.