With international cricket returning to Pakistan, it now is Ireland that’ll be hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the first time later this year. The 6-match white-ball series on schedule will see the sides contest over 3 One-Day Internationals (ODI’s) and 3 Twenty20 Internationals (T20I’s) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The 3-match ODI series is a part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 and the series is the 2nd for both sides, Pakistan and Ireland. While, results from their 1st series see Pakistan with a 2-1 series win against Sri Lanka with 4 points to their name and Ireland having lost their series, 0-3 to South Africa, are yet to get their first points on the board.
The list of officials for the series has been confirmed by the PCB which sees Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Afridi and Imran Jawed form the umpiring panel. Both, Asif and Faisal are part of the PCB Elite Panel of Umpires and PCB match officials on the ICC International Panel, while Imran is part of the PCB Elite Panel of Umpires and Ali Naqvi, a member of PCB Elite Panel of Match Referees and International Panel of ICC Match Referees will take charge as referee.
Pakistan skipper, Bismah Maroof on the series announcement said, “We are all up for an exciting series against Ireland. The series will help us in attracting new fans to the women’s game. The series will provide an opportunity for young cricketers to upskill themselves as per the demands of international cricket. We are eager to perform in front of our home crowd and win crucial ICC Women’s Championship points as qualifying directly for the next ODI World Cup is one of our main targets.”
Ireland are set to arrive in Pakistan on the 29th of October for the series that gets underway with the ODI’s which are scheduled to be played on the 4th, 6th and 9th of November and will be followed by the T20’s on the 12th, 14th and 16th of the same month. The series will serve as a good build-up for Pakistan heading into South Africa where they next play in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup event that’s scheduled for early next year.
Schedule – Ireland Women’s tour of Pakistan 2022
| DATE | EVENT | VENUE | TIME |
| 04-Nov-2022 | 1st ODI | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
| 06-Nov-2022 | 2nd ODI | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
| 09-Nov-2022 | 3rd ODI | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
| 12-Nov-2022 | 1st T20I | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
| 14-Nov-2022 | 2nd T20I | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
| 16-Nov-2022 | 3rd T20I | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 10:00 AM |
Pakistan are a team in form having just had a good run at the 8th edition of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup. The side in the tournament displayed a string of consistent performances which had them comfortably make it to the Semi-Final, but it just was on the big day that the side lost in a thrilling chase by a run to Sri Lanka which got their fruitful campaign to an agonizing end.
Visitors, Ireland too have played some good brand of cricket in their most recent outing, the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates. The side made it to the Finals, but it was on the big day that they lost to Bangladesh. So, a clash of two in-form teams on Pakistani soil is what we’ll be presented with.