From playing for Ireland to playing against them: Story of Kim Garth

After retaining the Ashes Series in England, the Aussies are set to play Ireland in the 3-match ODI series. Australia will be playing ODI’s against Ireland for the first time since 2005.

Australian all-rounder Kim Garth is set to play against the country where she started her career as a professional cricketer.

Garth played a total of 85 matches for Ireland, she made her debut at the age of just 14 years becoming the youngest player to play a T20 International. She also scored 1210 runs for them while also picking 65 wickets in the process. She was also named Ireland’s player of the decade.

Garth moved to Australia to pursue her dream of being a full-time professional cricketer, something which was not a viable option in Ireland at that time. Meghan Schutt returned to Australia after the 3rd ODI in the Ashes Series, due to this it is more likely that Kim Garth will feature against the Irish Women.

Ahead of the match, Kim Garth said that she is nervous as well as excited at the same time. She further said that it will be a weird experience for her to play against the country she previously represented.

She also said that “the Irish girls have been really supportive on my journey and I’m still friends with a lot of them and that’s something that I’m very appreciative of. We got in two nights ago and I took the opportunity to spend a little bit of time at home with my parents and my brothers.”

On playing for this champions Australian side, she said: “I’m still kind of pinching myself that I’m in this side and they are – we are, sorry – the best team in the world, But being in an environment like this, it’s hard not to try and better yourself and improve with the resources we have around us, we’re very lucky.”

She also said that Ireland has some incredible talents on their hands, and they have also shown some promising results.

In 2022, Cricket Ireland announced full-time contracts for the women’s team, 9 players got full-time contracts, while 6 players got part-time contracts.

Australia will be hoping to avenge the limited overs series loss at the hands of England when they face Ireland. Meanwhile, Ireland are coming from a series defeat at the hands of West Indies, so they will be hoping to perform better in the series.

Squads:

Ireland – Laura Delany (c), Mary Waldron (wk), Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Louise Little, Leah Paul, Arlene Kelly, Jane Maguire, Orla Prendergast, Georgina Dempsey, Ava Canning, Aimee Maguire, Cara Murray, Rebecca Stokell

Australia – Alyssa Healy (C, WK), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Kim Garth, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Georgia Wareham, Darcie Brown