Squad selected for the 2025 Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup

DUBLIN A squad of 15 players has been selected for the 2025 ICC Under-19s Womens T20 World Cup, to be held in Malaysia from January 13 to February 2, 2025.

The 16-team event is only being held for the second time; the very first edition, won by India, took place in South Africa in 2023.

Ireland is included in a competitive group with England (second place from 2023), Pakistan and the USA.

The Ireland Under-19 Women's squad consists of:

• Amy Hunter (Instonians/Malahide) captain, Abbi Harrison (Waringstown), Jennifer Jackson (Eglinton), Niamh MacNulty (Merrion) vice-captain, Aimee Maguire (The Hills), Lara McBride (The Hills), Kia McCartney (Coleraine), Ellie McGee (Rush), Julie McNally (Clontarf), Lucy Neely (Fox Lodge), Freya Sargent (Clontarf) Vice Captain, Millie Spence (Bready), Annabel Squires (Merrion), Alice Tector (Phoenix), Alice Walsh (Clontarf).

Traveling reserve player: Rebecca Lowe (Lisburn)

Non-Traveling Reserves: Sbha Bhoja (Merrion), Ally Boucher (Merrion), Genevieve Morrissey (Clontarf)

Coaching and support staff: Glenn Querl (head coach), James Cameron-Dow (assistant coach), Nigel Jones (team manager), Stuart Thompson (strength and conditioning), Julia Webster (physiotherapist), Alison White (team doctor).

Ten players in the squad have experience of playing in the first event: Amy Hunter, Abbi Harrison, Jennifer Jackson, Niamh MacNulty, Kia McCartney, Ellie McGee, Julie McNally, Freya Sargent, Annabel Squires and Aimee Maguire. Hunter, Sargent and Maguire also recently featured in Ireland Senior Women's remarkable 3-0 T20I series win in Bangladesh, while Alice Tector played for the seniors in their historic ODI wins against England and Sri Lanka during the home summer .

The Ireland squad will travel to Dubai on January 3 for a pre-season camp, where they will play friendlies against the UAE and Scotland, before arriving in Malaysia on January 11. They will play two official warm-up matches against South Africa U19 Women and Malaysia U19 Women before competitive action (additional tournament information with full schedule and squads).

UNDER-19 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE (Group B)

• January 18, 2025: Ireland U19 Women v England U19 Women (10.30am) – Johor Cricket Academy Ground
• January 20, 2025: Ireland U19 Women v USA U19 Women (10.30am) – Johor Cricket Academy Ground
• January 22, 2025: Ireland U19 Women v Pakistan U19 Women (10.30am) – Johor Cricket Academy Ground

*time local to earth

Glenn QuerlIreland Under-19 Women Head Coach said:

The opportunity to participate in the Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup in Malaysia is incredibly exciting for our players. It marks an important milestone in their cricketing journey. Some players took part in the opening tournament in 2023. This is invaluable as they can draw on their experience and support the younger players on their journey. Throughout our preparations, this group has demonstrated exceptional talent, dedication and resilience. Although the results of our recent tour of South Africa may not have been to our liking, the valuable lessons we learned during that tour have been instrumental to our development. Each match has provided insights that will undoubtedly strengthen our team dynamics and improve our performance. We believe these experiences have united us as a team and will propel us to new heights as we prepare for the tournament in Malaysia. The potential within this group is enormous and we are keen to showcase our growth on the world stage.

National Talent Program Manager, Albert van der Merweadded:

It is a great opportunity for our players to participate in a global event. These tournaments and tours give players a good insight into what professional sports are all about. Not only will they play against some of the best players in the world, but they will also experience different cultures and playing conditions that will hopefully make them more well-rounded sportswomen. I wish Glenn [Querl] and his team all the best. They have trained incredibly hard as a team over the past year and we will be watching with great interest in January.