Ireland v Netherlands: Malahide series vital for World Cup qualifiers

Lara Maritz has best figures of 1-19 against Scotland in 2017

Ireland bowler Lara Maritz says the Twenty20 series against the Netherlands next week is perfect preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

The four games at Malahide come a month before Ireland travel to Spain for the Women's T20 World Cup qualifiers.

Ireland beat Scotland 3-1 in a T20 series in Belfast in May.

"This series is very important for us as a young team. We meet Scotland and Netherlands again in the qualifiers so having these series is good for us."

• Ireland beat Scotland 3-1 in T20 series

France, Germany and Turkey will also compete in the European qualifier, with just one side progressing to next year's world qualifiers.

Maritz made her international debut in 2017 and feels "like I am senior member of the squad despite being still 20".

Learning curve

The fast bowler returned for the Scotland series after spending 18 months in Australia as part of an ICC development team.

"My time in Australia was amazing. My goal is to become an all-rounder for Ireland, so I put in a lot of hard work in, particularly into my batting," added Maritz.

Lara Maritz is hoping to develop into an all-rounder for Ireland

"It's such a privilege to play for your country and you have to use every opportunity given to you.

"That feeling I guess came through in the first game of the Scotland series [Ireland lost] but we soon regrouped and won the series well.

"We played well against Scotland and have worked really hard on our fielding, and I think that has opened a lot of eyes for our young team.

"Having Mary Waldron and Eimear Richardson back for the Netherlands series is also a great bonus."