Former Trinity sport scholars and students Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell (both shown right with Orla Prendergast) helped Ireland Women’s cricket team secure an unbeaten six-match run at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup European Qualifier in the Netherlands, booking their place at next year’s Global Qualifier. Ireland Women went into this tournament as firm favourites to progress to the Global Qualifier, recently boosted by their impressive 2-1 series win at home to Pakistan at the beginning of the month. This would also be the first qualification tournament under the new Women’s Head Coach Lloyd Tennant, who took over from Ed Joyce, a former DUCC captain and Irish cricketing legend.
The week-long tournament in Rotterdam between 20 and 27 August saw Ireland face Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands in a demanding double round-robin format. The Irish squad rose to the challenge superbly, winning all six matches to top the group and secure their place in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Global Qualifier. Ten teams will battle it out in the Global Qualifier in Nepal early next year, competing for four places at ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 taking place in England and Wales.
Both Paul and Stokell are mainstays of the Irish team across multiple formats over the past number of years. They featured in the middle of the batting order throughout this tournament, with Paul also offering depth in the bowling department which was used on occasion.
Ireland's six-match fixture run started strong with a ten-wicket win against Germany where Paul bowled one over. The following day, Ireland beat Netherlands by eight wickets with Paul batting 17 runs not out. By their third game and halfway through the tournament, Ireland continued to dominate with a 63-run win over Italy. At 110-4 with five overs to go, Stokell and her teammate Laura Delany sought to pile the runs on with the pair taking 56 runs from the final five overs and Ireland eventually finished on 166-4. Ireland continued to go from strength to strength, piling on the runs in a 179-run win over Germany in their fourth game with Paul bringing up her second T20I half-century off just 26 balls before going on to finish on 62* from just 33 balls. In their fifth game, Ireland beat the Netherlands by seven wickets guaranteeing their place in the Global Qualifiers in Nepal. Ireland's final fixture, a composed 33-run victory over Italy on 27 August with Paul accounting for a run out in the field, sealed a perfect campaign.
During their time at Trinity, Stokell (shown right) and Paul balanced academic life with elite sport and their success on the international stage continues to showcase the impact of Trinity's sport scholarship programme.
Paul and Stokell shared, "We are delighted to have made history with our first home series win versus Pakistan [in early August] and winning the European Qualifiers. We hope to carry this momentum into the global qualifiers and secure a spot in next year's T20 World Cup."
Trinity’s Director of Sport and Physical Activity, Michelle Tanner, congratulated the pair, noting: “We are immensely proud of Rebecca and Leah, whose achievements are an inspiration to our student-athletes and the wider Trinity community. Their success is a wonderful example of how our sport scholarship programme supports talented students in reaching their potential both academically and athletically.”
Ireland Women will now turn their attention to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier, where a place at the 2026 World Cup in England and Wales will be at stake.