It has been an exciting number of weeks for Trinity student athlete’s Rebecca Stokell and Leah Paul, as they were part of the Irish Women’s cricket squad that survived a nail-biting semi-final in the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi to beat Zimbabwe by four runs and ensure qualification to the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup in South Africa. In a true all-round team performance, Ireland’s top six batters registered double-figures, while the bowlers remained composed under mounting pressure - as Ed Joyce’s team held on to claim one of the two T20 World Cup spots on offer.

Trinity student athlete’s Rebecca Stokell and Leah Paul have also been named on the Cricket Ireland squad for their first ever tour of Pakistan, which will see them play three ICC women’s championship 2022 – 25 fixtures from 4th – 9th November, which will be followed by three T20I’s from 12th – 16th November. While Ireland and Pakistan have a history of international cricket between the two sides dating back 60 years, this will be the first time a senior men’s or women’s side will have played in Pakistan.

After the T20 World Cup qualification, Rebecca Stokell commented, “We are all delighted to have gotten over the line in Abu Dhabi because we've all worked extremely hard over the last number of months. The semi-final was probably closer than we would have liked but the most important thing was that we got the win. Our focus is now on being as prepared as we can for the World Cup in South Africa in February 2023.”

Fellow teammate and Trinity student athlete Leah Paul said, " We are ecstatic to be heading to the World Cup in February 2023. As a team we had been building up to this qualifying event for a long period, so to be able to go out there and execute our skills the way we did in an extremely high-pressure situation was brilliant. We are now looking forward to being able to take on the top teams on the world stage in the new year."

The Ireland squad will arrive in Lahore on 29 October and hold training sessions on 31 October to 3 November.

The fixtures will be:
• 4 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 1st ODI (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)*
• 6 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 2nd ODI (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)*
• 9 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 3rd ODI (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)*
• 12 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 1st T20I (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)
• 14 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 2nd T20I (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)
• 16 November : Pakistan v Ireland – 3rd T20I (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; 10am start local time)