DUBLIN – Ireland Women’s 14-player squad for the upcoming ICC Emerging Nations Trophy tournament has been named, with two players in line to make their debuts, if selected, and an international recall for Lara Maritz.
The 10-team tournament will be played in the UAE between 12-25 November 2026, with the squad flying out on Sunday.
This is the first year of the newly-expanded Emerging Nations Trophy. The previous iteration – won by Thailand – involved Associate teams only, however, the new format now sees five Full Members and five Associates competing.
The teams are:
- Group A: Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Scotland and UAE
- Group B: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Thailand
Gaby Lewis will lead the squad, with Amy Hunter taking on the vice-captaincy in Orla Prendergast’s absence (Prendergast has been granted approval to miss the tournament to be able to play in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia).
Also missing from the squad are Rebecca Stokell (see here), Leah Paul, who has made herself unavailable for this tournament, and Christina Coulter Reilly, who has an injury.
Coming into the squad are Zara Craig and Abbi Harrison who are both in line to make their international debuts, if selected:
- 23-year old Craig, a seam bowling all-rounder who plays for Eglinton and Phoenix, has been part of the Irish talent pathway coming up through the underage levels and she was a member of the 2023 Women’s Under-19s T20 World Cup squad.
- 20-year old Harrison, a wicket-keeper batter who plays for Waringstown, receives her first senior call-up. She was a member of both the 2023 and 2025 Women’s Under-19s T20 World Cup squads. If capped, Harrison will become the fifth member of her immediate family to play for Ireland (after her great-uncles Garfield, Jim, Roy and Deryck), although she credits her grandfather Barry as her biggest influence in her cricket career.
In addition, receiving an international recall is Lara Maritz. The 25-year old Irish international all-rounder has 43 caps to date, making her debut in 2017 and last playing for her country in 2021.
Kia McCartney is also uncapped in T20I cricket, however, has five ODI caps for her country.
Graeme West, Director of High Performance at Cricket Ireland, said:
“With no International cricket scheduled until March next year, the timing of the Emerging Nations Trophy provides our Performance Squad with the perfect opportunity to put the learning from the training programmes that have taken place over the last six weeks into high level competition. The tournament itself offers our squad the opportunity to take on sides that share a similar goal of entering the top six ranked teams in the world, making for a very competitive event – just what we need as we build towards the next T20 World Cup in 2028.
“We have a few notable absentees from the squad we took to the T20 World Cup in June, but such absences provide opportunities for players that are progressing through the High Performance Pathway to showcase their talent and strengthen our pool of players capable of consistently producing impactful performances in international cricket.
Regarding Orla’s absence:
“Recognising a likely clash between the WBBL and the ICC Emerging Nations Tournament, the consideration was focused on what was best for Orla’s game and development, the collective agreement was that the WBBL experience would elevate Orla’s game which, in turn, would benefit Cricket Ireland on the field with an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualification campaign already underway and qualification for the T20 World Cup in 2028 already secured.”
SQUAD
- Gaby Lewis (c)
- Amy Hunter (vc)
- Zara Craig
- Alana Dalzell
- Laura Delany
- Georgina Dempsey
- Abbi Harrison
- Louise Little
- Aimee Maguire
- Jane Maguire
- Lara Maritz
- Lara McBride
- Kia McCartney
- Cara Murray
FIXTURES
Group Stage:
- 12 November: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka – T20I (9am start, UAE – 5am Irish time)
- 13 November: Ireland Women v UAE – T20I (1.15pm start, UAE – 9.15am Irish time)
- 16 November: Ireland Women v PNG – T20I (1.15pm start, UAE – 9.15am Irish time)
- 18 November: Ireland Women v Scotland – T20I (9am start, UAE – 5am Irish time)
The Finals Stage:
- 20 November: Super Sixes
- 22 November: Super Sixes
- 23 November: Super Sixes
- 25 November: Final
See full details of the tournament here.
Cricket Ireland appreciates the ongoing support of Ireland Women’s sponsor, Evara.
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