The historic, inaugural edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Under-19 Twenty20 (T20) World Cup got underway on the 14th of January, and the Ireland women’s side early in the tournament has been hit with an injury to a vital player.
Skipper, Amy Hunter sustained an injury to her left thumb, and after a medical assessment, the management has decided to withdraw her from the tournament. 17-year-old, Aoife Fisher who plays for Belfast club CSNI has been called to fill in and Siúin Woods will step in as captain for the remainder of the tournament.
The approval of the Event Technical Committee is a must for a player swap according to the International Cricket Council (ICC). The committee of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 consists of Sarah Edgar (Chair), ICC Senior Manager Event Operations, Snehal Pradhan, ICC Women’s Cricket Manager, Sivuyile Mqingwana, Tournament Director, Claire Terblanche, (Cricket South Africa), Lydia Greenway (Independent), Stacy-Ann King (Independent).
JUST IN:
Ireland’s Captain Amy Hunter is out of U19 Women’s World Cup as the result of a thumb fracture.
Aoife Fisher will fly to South Africa today as a replacement.#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/L2ycuKD5pA
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 17, 2023
Ireland their opener against the West Indies and the latter asked to bat first had opener, Zaida James (57-ball 52) top score for the side and contributions from, Shunelle Sawh (25-ball 15), Naijanni Cumberbatch (27-ball 21*) and Jannillea Glasgow (10-ball 13*) helped West Indies post a just par score of 125/3 in their set of 20 overs.
Ireland in reply had skipper, Amy Hunter (21) start well, but soon departed and Annabel Squires went on to top score for the side with her 38-ball 42 in a losing cause as little contributions from Abbi Harrison (13) and Freya Sargent (11-ball 15*) following the middle order collapse couldn’t help the side chase the required. In Windies’ 7-run win, Zaida James topped the wickets column with figures of 4/20 off her 4 overs.
Ireland hasn’t had the kind of campaign they would have wished for as the side lost their warm-up to Rwanda in a final-ball thriller and then lost their tournament opener to West Indies. Worsening the wounds is the development of skipper, Amy Hunter down with an injury that not only sees the side down with a frontline batter but also misses Amy Hunter the leader who’s got good experience at the international level having played for the senior team.
The 17-year-old, Irish batter has represented the Ireland women’s team at the top level on 11 occasions which sees her with 216 runs in the format, holds an average of 21.60, a strike rate of 91.91, and the highest score of 43.