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Board endorses women’s Super Series structure improvements for 2021 season

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DUBLIN – The Board of Cricket Ireland has approved a number of improvements to the women’s Super Series competition for 2021, with a mind to the senior international team set to compete in two world cup qualifying events during the year.
The improvements, developed by the Super Series Structure Working Group (consisting of the High Performance Director, National Selectors and Head Coaches of the Super Series teams), will see an increase in fixtures, the re-introduction of the T20 format, creation of new coaching hubs with increased coaching contact hours and two matches set to be played in Northern Ireland to increase exposure and accessibility of the game to fans and aspiring cricketers around Ireland.

In 2020 a new livestreaming and livescoring system was implemented to increase the visibility of the competition, and that will continue with expected enhancements to the service.

The Super Series will additionally be split into two separate competitions – a 50-over Cup and a T20 Trophy competition – moving away from the previous multi-format, hybrid competition structure.

The two captains from the 2020 Super Series were also engaged in this process to get a player’s perspective on the improvements.

Image: The Typhoons won their first title in 2020

Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said:

“The improvements approved today will see increased investment in coaching and matches played during an important year for the Ireland Women’s international squad. We will be playing in two world cup qualifiers – the first in Sri Lanka in June will be the 50-over World Cup qualifier tournament, while the second in Scotland in August will be the Europe region qualifier for the T20 World Cup – and as a result we have structured the Super Series fixtures to maximise the number of matches in each format in the lead up to each qualifier.”

“Given the success of last year’s two-team competition, and the likelihood that there may be no overseas players coming to Ireland to play club cricket this year, we have endorsed a continuation of the two-team format for 2021. We shall review this at the end of the season in advance of 2022.”

“The other consideration for the fixtures is that we have two short windows ahead of both qualifiers to fit as many matches in as we can, so the competition start date this year will be brought forward to 25 April, with squad coaching to begin in March.”

“Building on the improvements made in 2020, we feel we are moving this competition further towards its intended vision – creating an opportunity for our strongest players to perform within a competitive, best v best professional environment, providing an opportunity for players with potential to develop skills that are needed at international level, and experiencing being part of a more professional environment – thereby, preparing them for the possibility of being included in our performance or academy squads.”

“The season will see eight 50-over matches played, and four rounds of T20 fixtures, ensuring teams will be able get 12 high-quality matches in as part of their world cup qualifier preparations.”

NEW TRAINING HUBS

A new introduction for 2021 will be a training programme for the squads, with additional investment in facility and coaching time for the Super Series squads. COVID-19 restrictions will determine when this is possible to commence in full, but it is hoped these will be in place in March giving at least six weeks lead-in to the competition.

These training hubs, built around the two squads, will see players being able to work together, to bond, to share values and to create a culture around their squad. It will also provide the coaches with opportunities to have more contact hours with their players throughout the competition.

SELECTION OF SQUADS

The selection process for the two squads will be undertaken by the National Selectors, National Head Coach, Super Series head coaches and the High Performance Director. These squads will be announced shortly.