The Irish Women's Cricket Union was founded in 1982 and our first President was Isolda Howard, who not only had a very keen interest in cricket but also in table tennis.

Cricket has grown in Ireland over the past 18 years, especially in the province of Leinster where there are 7 different leagues, Divisions 1 to 3, Under 19, Under 15, Under 13 plus an Over 40 league for the senior players.

At inter-provincial level, there are four competitions. They are The Seniors, Under 19, Under 15 and Veterans. At present there are approximately 20 schools in Leinster, 10 in Ulster and a number of schools in the North West that play cricket which, hopefully, will be a good "feeder" for the clubs.

In February 2001, the IWCU will amalgamate with our male counterparts known as the ICU (Irish Cricket Union), and it is hoped that with the amalgamation there will be more female cricketers in Ulster and Munster.

Our expectations are that we hope to win the World Cup - doesn't every country hope for that? The bare minimum expected is to finish no lower than 6th which would mean that we would automatically qualify for the next world cup in 2003, South Africa.

We are, however, up against very strong opposition who have great sponsorship deals which enable them to have the best of everything. Having said that, the Irish squad work very well together, have great team spirit and are ably assisted by our coach, John Wills and manager Grania Medcalf. One major milestone will be our Captain's 50th cap for her country which no other player has achieved to date.

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