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CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Despite being only 21-years old, Gaby Lewis has been playing for Ireland for over eight years and is one of the most experienced players in the Ireland Women’s squad currently based in South Africa ahead of the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

The hard-hitting top-order batter is an integral part of Ed Joyce’s team as they prepare for a tough series of games in the Group Stage where they face England, Pakistan, West Indies, and India.

With less than two weeks to go to the start of the tournament Gaby was this week speaking to The Green Ball Show – the Irish cricket podcast – in a wide-ranging interview. She talked about taking on a leadership role in the squad, the benefits of playing at a high level more consistently, and the squad’s preparations ahead of their first appearance at a global tournament since 2018.

Excerpts from the interview:

Talking about the upcoming tournament:

“We’re raring to go. At the moment we’re letting those that were affected by illness rest up while the rest of us are continuing on with our preparation. We’ll get all our team stuff done over the next couple of days, but there’s only so much you can do on Zoom calls. We’re making the most out of a tricky situation.”

Talking about successes in the T20 format:

“I think the shorter format suits our squad. We have quite a young squad and we have been performing our skills well in T20s. The next step is to do our skills for longer periods. I think that’ll come with the build-up of the schedules. In the last couple of years our workload has been increasing, lately driven by the introduction of the Women’s Championship. But first, we’re really looking forward to this World Cup, and come summer there are a few ODI series’ for us to play.”

Talking about being seen as a senior member of the squad:

“I quite enjoy it to be honest. I feel like I’m a senior player at this stage because I have played since I was 13. I don’t really look at age, that’s for other people. A lot of us are leaders and I think we put a bit more responsibility on those that are younger, which is really good. Especially with the introduction of the Under-19 World Cup, that was a super experience for Amy [Hunter] and Georgina [Dempsey] to have to experience that pressure at that age. They can now take that into the senior squad and hopefully play a bit more freely, being used to having pressure on them.”

Talking about the team’s mindset:

“Your first experience as a player these days is being exposed to high standards at an earlier age. By the time they get to this level, the hope is that players will be able to better handle the nerves and pressure.

“At this tournament, we’d love to get through the group stages, but we know it’s small wins at the moment. I think if we can win one or two games, we’d be absolutely delighted – focusing on how we win those games and how we perform is the key. We may not have the resources of other countries, but we have great motivation. We’re coming in as underdogs and that’s the position we like to be in.”

The full interview

Listen to the full interview with Gaby Lewis on The Green Ball Show here.

Women’s ICC T20 World Cup

The Ireland Women’s ICC T20 World Cup squad is:

• Laura Delany (captain), Georgina Dempsey, Amy Hunter, Shauna Kavanagh, Arlene Kelly, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Sophie MacMahon, Jane Maguire, Cara Murray, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Stokell, Mary Waldron.

IRELAND WOMEN’S FIXTURE SCHEDULE

Warm-ups (prep camp)
• 1 February: Ireland Women v Bangladesh Women (Cape Town)
• 3 February: Ireland Women v Bangladesh Women (Cape Town)

Warm-ups (official)
• 5 February: Ireland Women v Sri Lanka Women (Stellenbosch)
• 8 February: Ireland Women v Australia Women (Stellenbosch)

T20 World Cup (Group Stage)
• 13 February: Ireland Women v England Women (Paarl)
• 15 February: Ireland Women v Pakistan Women (Cape Town)
• 17 February: Ireland Women v West Indies Women (Cape Town)
• 20 February: Ireland Women v India Women (Port Elizabeth)

See the full tournament fixture list here.


Craig Easdown
No
Connaught