Ireland announce squad for Sri Lanka series, includes two newcomers

Ireland has named their squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s Championship series at home against Sri Lanka. The series includes five white-ball matches, with three ODIs counting towards the ongoing ICC Women's Championship. 

Laura Delany will once again lead the team throughout the series, which will be held in Belfast and Dublin. There is a maiden call-up for Alice Tector, the younger sister of Ireland men's star batter Harry Tector. Christina Coulter-Reilly is also in line for a debut, having been named in the 14-player squad for the two T20I matches starting on August 11.

Ireland coach Ed Joyce anticipates a challenging series and urges his players to embrace the tough competition.

“Every international series for us is really important because we know we want to see progression. It's always tricky looking at results, especially when playing against teams ranked much higher than us," Joyce said.

“Sri Lanka have really improved - we were obviously hoping to play them in the final in the (ICC Women's T20 World Cup) qualifiers, but didn't quite get there. You know, they've obviously got one of the world's best in captain Chamari Athapaththu, but the rest of their players seem to be young and hungry and doing really well. So I think they're both two very tough series for us," he further added

The matches are set to provide a great opportunity for Ireland to test their skills against a strong Sri Lankan side and gauge their progress on the international stage.

T20I Squad: Laura Delany (c), Ava Canning, Christina Coulter-Reilly, Alana Dalzell, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond-Hoey, Freya Sargent, Rebecca Stokell

ODI Squad: Laura Delany (c), Ava Canning, Alana Dalzell, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Joanna Loughran, Aimee Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond-Hoey, Freya Sargent, Rebecca Stokell, Alice Tector