Cricket Ireland Offer Professional Contracts To Female Players For The First Time; To Invest €1.5m In Women’s Cricket

Cricket Ireland (CI) for the first time has offered professional contracts to female cricketers as they announced a commitment to invest €1.5m in women’s cricket. A total of 20 professional contracts will be offered to women cricketers.

Seven full-time, nine part-time/educational, and four non-retainer contracts were announced by the governing body along with the good news that national women’s coach Ed Joyce has inked a three-year contract extension.

All full-time contracts will start this month, meaning Ireland will have the country’s first-ever full-professional women’s cricketers going into the 2022 summer season. The part-time contracts are intended to support players who are in education, offering the financial sustenance to account for their training, growth, and summer playing calendar.

Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom said: “These announcements underline our deep commitment to women’s and girls’ elite cricket and put us firmly on the path of not only becoming a major nation in world cricket, but a major sport in Ireland. We are today only the second women’s sport in Ireland to offer 12-month, full-time contracts after the Rugby 7s squad – and this we are intensely proud of. If in the past our focus was primarily on men’s senior cricket, now our focus is equally on the women’s game as the shopfront for advancing our sport.”

Ireland will host South Africa in three T20s and three ODIs in June. While in July, Ireland will host a T20 tri-series featuring Australia and Pakistan.

To The Squad I Say Simply, Enjoy It: Laura Delany

Ireland captain Laura Delany has hailed Cricket Ireland’s move.

“As a squad we are truly excited and thankful for this opportunity – it is something that many of us never would have dreamed of when we started out playing the sport we love. While thankful, though, we also acknowledge the hard work, sacrifice and commitment shown by the players to achieve the honour of representing our country at the highest levels. And, as fortunate as the players here today are for having this opportunity, we know that we are standing on the shoulders of the giants that came before us.

For many years, legends of our Irish women’s cricket have fought hard to achieve successes on and off the field. To the squad I say simply, enjoy it. Enjoy this opportunity – be thankful, but know that you’ve earned the right to stand where you are,” Delany was quoted by IrishExaminer.

Laura Delany, Shauna Kavanagh, Sophie MacMahon, Cara Murray, Celeste Raack, Eimear Richardson, and Mary Waldron have landed full-time deals. Ava Canning, Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Jane Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, and Rebecca Stokell will be on part-time arrangements with educational benefits.

On the other hand. Rachel Delaney, Sarah Forbes, Hannah Little, and Kate McEvoy will be on non-retainer contracts.

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