Ireland have named a 14-player squad for the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy 2026, scheduled to run from November 12 to 25 in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. The tournament has been expanded this year to include 10 teams, five Full Members and five Associates, making it the first edition to feature sides beyond Associate level.
The most notable selection story is the return of 25-year-old all-rounder Lara Maritz, who receives her first international call-up since 2021 having accumulated 43 caps since her debut in 2017. Alongside her recall, seam-bowling all-rounder Zara Craig and wicketkeeper-batter Abbi Harrison are both in line to make their senior Ireland debuts. Gaby Lewis captains the side with Amy Hunter serving as vice-captain.
Several senior players are unavailable. Orla Prendergast is away on Women’s Big Bash League duty in Australia, while Rebecca Stokell, Leah Paul and Christina Coulter Reilly are all absent through injury or unavailability. The squad departs for the UAE on November 9.
“With no International cricket scheduled until March next year, the timing of the Emerging Nations Trophy provides our Performance Squad with the perfect opportunity to put the learning from the training programmes that have taken place over the last six weeks into high level competition. The tournament itself offers our squad the opportunity to take on sides that share a similar goal of entering the top six ranked teams in the world, making for a very competitive event – just what we need as we build towards the next T20 World Cup in 2028,” Graeme West, Cricket Ireland’s Director of High Performance, stated.
“We have a few notable absentees from the squad we took to the T20 World Cup in June, but such absences provide opportunities for players that are progressing through the High Performance Pathway to showcase their talent and strengthen our pool of players capable of consistently producing impactful performances in international cricket,” West added.
Why is Orla Prendergast not in the squad?
Prendergast‘s absence is a planned one rather than an injury concern. Cricket Ireland’s High Performance management weighed the overlap between the Women’s Big Bash League schedule in Australia and the Emerging Nations Trophy window and concluded that the WBBL experience would serve her development better at this point. With an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualification campaign already underway and T20 World Cup 2028 qualification already secured, the decision was made collectively with Prendergast’s long-term progression in mind.
“Recognising a likely clash between the WBBL and the ICC Emerging Nations Tournament, the consideration was focused on what was best for Orla’s game and development, the collective agreement was that the WBBL experience would elevate Orla’s game which, in turn, would benefit Cricket Ireland on the field with an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualification campaign already underway and qualification for the T20 World Cup in 2028 already secured,” West explained.
Ireland Women full squad for ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy 2026
Gaby Lewis (c), Amy Hunter (vc), Zara Craig, Alana Dalzell, Laura Delany, Georgina Dempsey, Abbi Harrison, Louise Little, Aimee Maguire, Jane Maguire, Lara Maritz, Lara McBride, Kia McCartney, Cara Murray.
