Laura Delany: Skipper to become first Ireland woman to reach 200 caps in Dubai games
- Published
Skipper Delany will lead the Ireland squad at the T20 World Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi
Laura Delany will become the first Ireland woman to make 200 international appearances when the Irish travel to the United Arab Emirates next month for the T20 World Cup qualifier.
The skipper has made 199 appearances and should reach the 200 mark in the opening warm-up game against Thailand.
That match is one of two warm-up games against Thailand in Dubai before the tournament takes place in Abu Dhabi.
Ireland will be among 10 teams chasing two T20 World Cup spots.
Sri Lanka will go in as the tournament's top ranked side, with only the two finalists securing spots in Bangladesh in September and October.
The other teams competing in Abu Dhabi are hosts United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda, USA and Vanuatu.
Eimear Richardson returns to the Ireland squad for the qualifiers after being unavailable for the Zimbabwe series in January and early February
Following the two contests against Thailand (16 and 18 April), Ireland will have further warm-up games against Scotland and USA on 21 and 23 April before the competition opener against the hosts on 25 April.
Ireland's other group games will have them facing Zimbabwe, Vanuatu and the Netherlands on 29 April, 1 May and 3 May.
The Ireland women have never faced UAE and Vanuatu but Zimbabwe and the Netherlands will be familiar opposition.
Ireland's most recent series in January and early February saw them win seven games out of eight in Zimbabwe as they earned a 2-0 win in the one-day internationals, with one game tied, before clinching a 5-0 clean sweep in the T20 contests.
Those results have led the Ireland selectors to name a largely unchanged squad for the qualifiers, with New Zealand-based Eimear Richardson returning after being unavailable for the Zimbabwe tour.
Zimbabwe understrength for recent series
Delany expects Zimbabwe to be a tougher proposition in Abu Dhabi after they were understrength for the recent series.
"Zimbabwe were missing a number of players on our recent tour so they will have a very different starting 11," added the Ireland skipper.
Delany is playing down her own looming milestone of 200 caps as she concentrates on the team element.
"If it happens, that would be amazing but I've struggled with a lot of injuries throughout my career so I never take playing a game for granted.
"I'm just focusing on making sure that my prep goes as well as it can over the next few weeks."
Dubliner Delany became Ireland women's caps record holder by making her 185th appearance in a game against the Netherlands last August.
Ireland squad: Delany (captain), Canning, Dalzell, Dempsey, Hunter, Kelly, Lewis, Little, Loughran, Maguire, Murray, Paul, Prendergast, Richardson, Stokell.