It has been announced today that MCC will visit Ireland for a two-match Women’s tour later this year.
The two fixtures, to be played in July, are the first Women’s matches that MCC will have played in Ireland. Both matches will be against an Ireland Women’s Select XI – with Irish players to feature on both sides.
On Monday 11 July, a T20 match between the two teams will take place at Merrion Cricket Club in Dublin, before a 50-over game at nearby Pembroke Cricket Club the following day.
The announcement follows the recent confirmation of MCC’s summer fixture list, which this year sees the Club playing more Women’s matches than ever before and covering the length and breadth of the country – through from Scotland right down to Cornwall and many places in between.
MCC Women’s Day – returning for its fourth edition – will also take place at Lord’s next month, with the format of fixtures on the day to be confirmed shortly. MCC, Middlesex and Surrey have all been a part of this day in recent seasons.
"Women’s cricket globally is on the rise and I see these sorts of tours as providing positive experiences to those involved on both sides"
Kari Carswell, Head of Women’s Cricket at MCC, said: “The MCC Women’s section is very excited by this opportunity to play an Irish side this year – and we hope to welcome three Irish players into our ranks for these matches. Women’s cricket in Ireland is improving year-on-year, and we hope this can become an annual feature of our playing calendar.
“Women’s cricket globally is on the rise and I see these sorts of tours as providing positive experiences to those involved on both sides and giving people lots of opportunities to fulfil their potential.”
Ed Joyce, Head Coach of Ireland Women, and former England, Ireland, Middlesex and Sussex batter said: “MCC Ireland have had men’s tours for a long time, and so it felt that now was the right time to request a women’s tour with the national side in the ICC Women’s Championship. We are grateful to everyone at MCC Ireland, and MCC itself, for making this tour happen.”
“These games are set to be more high-quality fixtures for some of our players - the more games and experiences like this our players have, the better. We’ll select the Ireland Women’s Select XI squad closer to the time, but the squad will likely feature a mixture of players from the senior performance squad and our younger development squad.”