On March 10, in a landmark set of events, Cricket Ireland announced the first full-time professional contract for women players for the year 2022. This announcement of professional contracts is a part of Cricket Ireland’s investment programme.
A handsome sum of €1.5m will be invested in women’s cricket in Ireland which includes offering 20 professional contracts to women cricketers in Ireland. Out of the 20 professional contracts, seven are full-time contracts, nine part-time, and four non-retainers. This €1.5m investment in women’s cricket is a three-fold increase compared to that in 2019.
All the seven full-time contracts will be applicable starting this month, that is March, which suggests that Ireland women cricketers will go into the summer with a professional contract for the very first time.
JUST IN:
🇮🇪Ireland’s female cricket stars have been handed their first-ever full-time professional contracts by Cricket Ireland.
The new contracts are part of a €1.5million investment in the women’s game in the country.
Congratulations @IrishWomensCric 😍 pic.twitter.com/aBDUE0bUbH
— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 10, 2022
The part-time contracts which are offered to nine women cricketers are designed in such a way that they will provide financial support to the players, who are pursuing education, to effectively fund their training, development, and summer playing schedule.
This investment announcement in Ireland women’s cricket will certainly do a world of good for the players as it is quite evident that there are some star players in the country and there is no dearth of cricketing talent in this part of the world.
Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Ireland said, “The work behind-the-scenes to get to this point has – in reality – been three years in the making. Coming off the back of the team’s performance at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018, we – as an organization – committed ourselves to a journey to professionalize women’s cricket. It was not only a good thing to do but also the right thing to do. Women’s cricket’s time has come around the world – we’ve seen the incredible growth and professionalization of the women’s game across several major nations like Australia, England and India and the strong focus on female cricket in the new ICC strategy.”
GREAT NEWS!
IRELAND to host SOUTH AFRICA women in June for 3 ODIs and 3 T20I Match series:
• Schedule:
3 June 2022: 1st T20I
6 June 2022: 2nd T20I
8 June 2022: 3rd T20I
11 June 2022: 1st ODI
14 June 2022:1st ODI
17 June 2022: 1st ODI#IREvSA @IrishWomensCric @OfficialCSA pic.twitter.com/GAlKAFoPk9— Female Cricket #CWC22 (@imfemalecricket) March 10, 2022
Richard Holdsworth, High-Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said, “It is important to note that today’s announcements are not a case of ‘done and dusted’. This is not a final destination. This is just the start of our new era. In 2021 our women’s senior side qualified for the ICC Women’s Championship – we don’t want to just compete in this competition once, we want to stay there. We want to entrench ourselves in the top ranks of the women’s game. Today may be the culmination of three years’ work, but it also represents the first day of a new project. A project to keep us in the top tier and to not only participate but also truly compete against the top nations.”
News Source: ICC
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.