'I have no doubt we can win', Raymond-Hoey on upcoming Sri Lanka series

Ireland Women’s top-order batter, Una Raymond-Hoey, has returned to Irish cricket after spending five years playing in Australia. The 27-year-old, who made her international debut in 2014, has made 15 appearances for Ireland before moving Down Under in 2019.

In Australia, Raymond-Hoey played for Ringwood Cricket Club and progressed through the system to play for Victoria Women. She was also part of the Melbourne Stars squad in the 2022-23 season.

Raymond-Hoey has now agreed to a retainer contract with Cricket Ireland, making her available for much of the international schedule. She had to negotiate leave from her job at a physiotherapy clinic in Melbourne, where she works as an Exercise Scientist, to return home and rejoin the national team.

As part of her preparation for the upcoming matches, she played for the Scorchers in the recent Evoke Super Series games. Speaking from training, Raymond-Hoey expressed her excitement about being back in the Irish setup.

“It’s fun to be back - it’s been five years now, so it’s been a while. While I have to admit returning for Ireland wasn’t quite on my radar - I was just working away in Australia and playing Premier cricket over there - but because of the changing dynamic of the Irish squad, and with a few retirements, Ed [Joyce] got in contact a few months back to see if something could be done. It was a little bit tricky with work, but I’m just really grateful that we’ve managed to find a way to work it out," Raymond-Hoey said.

Raymond-Hoey admitted that the transition from Australian wickets to Irish pitches has been challenging.

“Being back a few weeks before the Sri Lanka series has been good. I’m coming off an off-season in Australia, so there hasn’t been much cricket for me of late. Unfortunately, I haven’t made any runs since returning, but I have found the transition from Australian wickets quite challenging. Getting the pace of the wickets is key – they can be a lot lower and slower here. So, even though my time in the middle hasn’t been that long, I think it’s been valuable," she further added.

She also noticed significant improvements in Irish cricket since she left.

“I was really excited to come back and see how things have changed. Since I left, the girls are now professional, which wasn’t the case before I went away. The standard of training, the amount the girls are training, and the access they have – even to just doing gym sessions and recovering from that are very different," she stated.

“Also, just the depth of standard in the Irish squad, and in the Super Series as well, has expanded from when I was last here. I think as well, the younger players within that have a lot more skills at a higher level in comparison to five years ago.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming Sri Lanka series, she expressed confidence in the team’s ability. 

“I’m really excited to see where this Ireland squad is at. With Sri Lanka ranked so closely to us, I think it’s a good test and it always has been for the last ten years to be honest. It’s always one we want to win. From some of the innings that I’ve seen from the girls in the Super Series, I have no doubt that we have the ability to win this series, so I’m interested to see how that all comes together," she concluded.