Ireland call up Hume to replace injured Littlepublished at 14:46 BST 11 June 2025
14:46 BST 11 June 2025
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Josh Little (left) is replaced by Graham Hume in the Ireland squad to face West Indies
Left-arm paceman Josh Little has been withdrawn from Ireland's squad for the forthcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies at Bready.
Graham Hume has been called up as his replacement for the triple-header, which starts on Thursday, and continues on Saturday and Sunday.
"Josh had a niggle yesterday at training and pulled up. So unfortunately, he's missing out," explained Ireland captain Paul Stirling on Wednesday.
"He's going back to England now to prepare over there, to try and get himself right. Graham Hume comes in for him.
"So unfortunately, that's one more change that seems to be the order of the day recently. Again, with all these things, as with the ODIs, it brings opportunities for players who maybe didn't expect to be around."
Ireland are also without Craig Young, Curtis Campher and Gareth Delany for the upcoming games, which follow on from a drawn ODI series between the sides in May.
The West Indies come into the matches on the back of a 3-0 T20I series defeat by England.
Paul Stirling became the first Irish player to reach 10,000 international runs as Ireland comfortably beat West Indies in the opening one-day international at Clontarf.
A 109-run partnership between Andrew Balbirnie (112) and record-breaking captain Stirling (54) set Ireland on course for victory as they reached 303-6.
Stirling has scored 5,979 runs in ODIs, 3,656 in T20s and 382 runs in Test cricket.
West Indies, who were facing the Irish in Dublin for the first time since 2019, were all out for just 179, as Barry McCarthy claimed 4-32.
The sides will meet again on Friday at Clontarf in the second ODI, with the third game of the series being played at the same venue on Sunday.
Ireland lost the toss and were asked to bat first, but through the fruitful pairing of Balbirnie and Stirling they moved to 109 before the latter was dismissed by Gudakesh Motie.
Cade Carmichael, who was making his debut alongside Tom Mayes and Liam McCarthy, was out for 16, but Harry Tector managed 56 with Lorcan Tucker also adding 30 to help Ireland set a high target.
Mayes claimed his first wicket for Ireland as he dismissed West Indies captain Shai Hope in the powerplay and the difficulties continued as West Indies slipped to 31-5 in the powerplay before Roston Chase (55) and Matthew Forde (38) steadied their innings.
McCarthy removed Brandon King, Keacy Carty, Amir Jangoo and Forde as the West Indies were bowled out for 179 with 15.5 overs remaining, falling to a 124-run defeat.
"We want to win this series of course, but you have to enjoy these sorts of results. It is a huge win for us, and I think the confidence is going to be high going into the weekend," said Balbirnie.
Young and Campher ruled out of West Indies ODIspublished at 22:16 BST 19 May 2025
22:16 BST 19 May 2025
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Craig Young has been ruled out of facing West Indies with a hamstring injury
Ireland have been dealt a double injury blow before their one-day series against West Indies this week with Craig Young and Curtis Campher ruled out.
Bowler Young, 35, sustained a hamstring injury in action for the North West Warriors against the Leinster Lightning last week, while all-rounder Curtis Campher, 26, fractured a finger batting in the nets on Monday.
Ireland's seam attack for the three white-ball meetings in Dublin had already been impacted by the losses of Mark Adair, Graham Hume and Fionn Hand through injuries.
Jordan Neill, 19, and Stephen Doheny, 26, have been called into the squad as replacements.
Ireland will host West Indies in Clontarf on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The visitors will then be England's opposition for Harry Brook's first games as their limited-overs captain before returning to face Ireland in three T20 internationals at Bready next month.
Ireland's hopes of securing a spot at the Women's World Cup later this year now look remote after West Indies beat them by six runs in a tense qualifier in Lahore.
In a contest reduced to 33 overs following rain, West Indies made 181-6 after Ireland won the toss with Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry both scoring 46.
Jane Maguire was the pick of the Ireland bowlers with her three wickets including the dismissal of Taylor although the Irish should have been chasing a significant lower totally after dropping six catches.
As was the case against Pakistan, Ireland started well in their reply as Amy Hunter and captain Gaby Lewis put on 57 for the opening wicket.
However, the skipper was then bowled by West Indies captain Hayley Matthews for 17 and three further wickets fell over the next six overs as the Irish slipped to 80-4.
These included the departure of top scorer Hunter for 48 as she was bowled by Afy Fletcher.
Knocks of 32 and 26 from former skipper Laura Delany and Christina Coulter Reilly moved the Irish to within 36 of their target before they were both dismissed by Aaliyah Alleyne.
After Ava Canning and Maguire departed in successive balls to Matthews to leave Ireland on 156-9, Arlene Kelly and Cara Murray got them to within seven runs of victory with an impressive partnership of 19.
However, Matthews ended the contest by dismissing Kelly for 18 with Henry taking the catch as West Indies claimed a vital victory after their defeat by Scotland on Wednesday.
Matthews' century wasn't enough for West Indies in midweek but her bowling figures of 4-24 from 6.2 overs proved the decisive contribution in Friday's match against Ireland's women, who face Bangladesh next on Sunday, 13 April.
Pakistan top the table with two wins from two matches after beating Scotland by six wickets.
Ireland skipper Lewis bemoaned the dropped catches which numbered six.
"We shouldn't have been chasing as many runs as that. You just can't get away with dropping that many chances against top nations," said the Irish captain.
"We bowled really well. [It was] Just those chances."
Ireland beaten by Pakistan in opening qualifierpublished at 13:10 BST 9 April 2025
13:10 BST 9 April 2025
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Image caption,
Ireland looked in a good position during the partnership between Amy Hunter (left) and Gaby Lewis (right) but their departures helped the hosts take control
Ireland lost nine wickets for only 83 runs as they collapsed from a strong position to suffer a 38-run defeat against hosts Pakistan in their opening Women's World Cup qualifier in Lahore.
The Irish restricted Pakistan to only 217 from 49 overs in Lahore with Jane Maguire taking three wickets as Aliya Riaz and Sidra Ameen hit 52 and 51 for the hosts.
In their reply, Ireland reached 96-1 as captain Gaby Lewis (44) and Amy Hunter (44) produced a 69-run partnership but their departures within four overs turned the match in Pakistan's favour.
Orla Prendergast batted for nearly 17 overs as she hit 37 but wickets fell regularly at the other end as home bowlers Diana Baig and Nashra Sandhu did most of the damage.
Baig produced bowling figures of 4-35 with Sandhu's three wickets including the vital dismissals of Lewis, Hunter and Laura Delany for a duck as Ireland slipped from 96-1 to 119-4 in 6.2 overs.
Ireland briefly rallied as Prendergast and Leah Paul put on 34 for the fifth wicket but Paul's departure after being trapped lbw by Sadia Iqbal effectively ended Irish resistance they were only able to add a further 24 runs.
In the Pakistan innings, Maguire removed Gull Feroza for four in the second over, before Muneeba Ali and Sidra put on 77 for the second wicket.
However, Cara Murray trapped Sidra and then had Riaz caught by Louise Little to leave the hosts on 175-4 before they lost their last six wickets for only 42 runs with Arlene Kelly taking two dismissals late in the innings.
The Irish will be back in action on Friday against West Indies at the same Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore before further contests against Bangladesh, Thailand and Scotland.
Only the two top teams in the round-robin qualifier will secure places at the World Cup in India in September.
Ireland 'confident' before World Cup qualifier - Lewispublished at 16:34 BST 8 April 2025
16:34 BST 8 April 2025
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Image caption,
Gaby Lewis will captain Ireland for the qualifying tournament in Pakistan
Ireland captain Gaby Lewis says her side are feeling "very confident" before their forthcoming ODI World Cup qualifier event in Pakistan.
Ireland will take part in the six-team qualifier tournament, which runs from Wednesday, 9 April until Friday, 18 April.
They will face Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Thailand and Scotland in a round-robin format.
The top two teams will qualify for September's eight-team World Cup, and Lewis believes Ireland are in a good place for their first game against Pakistan on Wednesday.
"We're feeling very confident going into this qualifier. We've had some great preparation leading up to it with a good training camp in Dubai, and we've been working really hard to acclimatise to the heat," she said.
"We're trying not to put too much pressure on ourselves. It's mostly about going out, enjoying ourselves and playing with our own aggressive nature - then hopefully the results will look after themselves."
Ireland have not qualified for an ODI World Cup since 2005, and they came second in last year's T20 World Cup qualifier after losing against Scotland in the final.
Amy Hunter and Jane Maguire have returned to the squad following injuries, while Kia McCartney has received her first call-up.
Before their opener against Pakistan, Ed Joyce's side played two warm-up games, against West Indies and Thailand, with all-rounder Laura Delany scoring back-to-back half-centuries.
Lewis believes Delany will be key to Ireland's hopes of finishing in the top two and qualifying for the tournament in India.
"She has done brilliantly in the first two warm-up games. She's also been great for us over the last 12 months - so looking forward to seeing her with bat and ball in this qualifier tournament."
Tony Munyonga guided Zimbabwe to a three-wicket victory over Ireland in the second Twenty20 international in Harare.
After the opening T20 was abandoned because of rain, Ireland batted first and set a chase of 137.
Craig Young claimed four wickets are Ireland piled pressure on Zimbabwe, but the hosts rallied through Munyonga's unbeaten 43 and claimed the match with four balls to spare.
Zimbabwe can win the three-match series in the final T20 between the sides on Tuesday, while Ireland require victory to draw the contest.
The hosts won the toss and elected to field as light rain briefly interrupted play, and Ireland lost captain Paul Stirling in the final ball of the first over.
Harry Tector, who was dismissed in the seventh over on 28, and Lorcan Tucker combined to put Ireland just shy of a ton before the Irish wicketkeeper was caught by Brian Bennett while on 46 in the 13th over.
Ireland looked poised for a strong score but Zimbabwe took a flurry of late wickets as George Dockrell, Neil Rock, Gareth Delany and Graham Hume all fell inside the final three overs as Ireland ended their innings on 137-8.
Young, only drafted into the T20 squad after an injury to Mark Adair, helped Ireland to a blistering start as he took out Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wesley Madhevere and Bennett to leave Zimbabwe at 14-3.
However, the hosts rallied and strong scoring from Sikandar Raza (22), Ryan Burl (27) and Munyonga (43) fired Zimbabwe to a series lead before Tuesday's final match.
Ireland's opening T20 contest against Zimbabwe had to be abandoned following rain in Harare.
The first game in the three-match series was initially reduced to nine overs with Zimbabwe reaching 77-5 as Ryan Burl top-scored with 36.
He was one of Josh Little's two victims, with Craig Young also taking 2-15.
However, after the weather again intervened, the contest had to be abandoned, leaving Sunday and Tuesday's contests at the Harare Sports Club to decide the series.
Ireland have been been in Zimbabwe for three weeks, with the tourists having triumphed in the one-off Test between the countries before the hosts edged a 2-1 victory in a one-day international series.
Young replaces injured Adair in Ireland T20 squadpublished at 16:18 GMT 20 February 2025
16:18 GMT 20 February 2025
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Image caption,
Craig Young fills the void left by Mark Adair's withdrawal from the T20 squad
Craig Young has been drafted into Ireland's squad for the T20 series against Zimbabwe after Mark Adair pulled out with a knee injury.
Key paceman Adair picked up the injury while fielding in Tuesday's third and final ODI against the Chevrons in Harare.
Experienced bowler Young was part the Test and ODI squads on the tour of Zimbabawe but will now stay on for the three-match T20 series starting on Saturday.
It is the second Irish withdrawal for the series after opener Ross Adair was ruled out because of a calf injury with the uncapped Tim Tector called up as his replacement.
Harare is again the venue for the T20 series with the second game on Sunday before the final match on Tuesday.
Ireland started the tour with a 63-run victory over the hosts in a one-off Test encounter in Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe hit back by clinching a 2-1 win in the three-match ODI series at the Harare Sports Club.
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