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Round of the historic week for Irish cricket with Toyota Super 3 action between the Scorchers and the Dragons on Sunday
Where were you on Thursday June 22nd 2017? A question that will be asked for years to come by everyone involved in Irish cricket and Irish sport. Full membership of the ICC and Test Status was granted to Cricket Ireland sparking celebrations across the country and beyond.
On Sunday, at College Park, Dublin the Toyota Super 3s provide the perfect opportunity to round off the greatest week in the history of cricket in Ireland. Full membership of the ICC will see the player pathways that are already in place strengthened and enlarged.

Ireland captain Laura Delany knows that with the Super 3s just a level down from international, “many of the girls see it as a platform to be selected for Ireland.” However she points out, it’s important to remember that “it’s a league in its own right. We’re all incredibly competitive and want to see who comes out on top.”

Some games in the competition were lost to the poor early season weather and while that was nobody’s fault, it did hamper some momentum for the players. “Towards the end of our tour of South Africa,” Delany says, “everyone was on such a high particularly after beating Zimbabwe. We were really looking forward to getting stuck in to our club and Super 3 games.”

Not that momentum seemed to be an issue for Delany. In the first match of the competition she top-scored with 75 for her Typhoons. It wasn’t enough to beat Kim Garth’s Scorchers however.

“Kim bowled incredibly well on the day, including some bouncers which she doesn’t always have the opportunity to do at international level. Lucy O’Reilly played really well and batted at 4 which is also something she wouldn’t maybe do too much at international level.”

The opportunity to practice these skills at a level just below the international stage is great but the competitiveness shines through as Delany talks. She would like to see the postponed games re-fixed if the schedules allow, ostensibly for the integrity of the league but the impression is Delany wants to reverse the Scorchers result just as much.

The fixture in College Park tomorrow sees the Scorchers take on the Shauna Kavanagh’s Dragons. Included in the squads are a number of players from the northern unions and Laura is delighted with the continued growth of the game. “The more Super 3 games that are played, the more the girls from the north play and are involved and the game continues to grow.”

This growth and development will be supported by Full Membership of the ICC. That planning may be for another day though. For now, let’s celebrate our elevation watching cricket and the Toyota Super 3s in College Park is as good a place as any to do that.

Toyota super 3
Scorchers v Dragons, College Park, Dublin, 1pm

An interesting note on the venue for tomorrow’s Super 3 match:
In July 2000, Ireland Women defeated Pakistan Women in a one-off Test Match. You can get details of the scorecards from that match here


Cricket Ireland
Ireland captain Laura Delany (centre) at the announcement of Ireland’s elevation to ICC Full Membership
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