Ireland's Una Raymond-Hoey getting back into the swing ahead of Sri Lanka series

DUBLIN – Ireland Women’s top-order batter, Una Raymond-Hoey, has been plying her trade Down Under for the last five years but is quickly getting back into the swing of Irish cricket ahead of a big month for the senior women’s squad.

Raymond-Hoey, 27, made her international debut for Ireland in 2014 and made 15 appearances for the Girls in Green before moving to Australia in 2019.

Playing for Ringwood Cricket Club, she progressed through the system and played for Victoria Women and was part of the Melbourne Stars squad in 2022-23.

Raymond-Hoey has agreed on a retainer contract where she will be available for much of the international schedule. To enable this, she had to negotiate leave from her employer – a physiotherapy clinic in Melbourne where she works as an Exercise Scientist.

As part of her preparations and re-acclimatisation, she featured for the Scorchers in the two most recent Evoke Super Series matches.

Speaking from training, Raymond-Hoey said:

“It’s fun to be back - it’s been five years now, so it’s been a while. While I have to admit returning for Ireland wasn’t quite on my radar - I was just working away in Australia and playing Premier cricket over there - but because of the changing dynamic of the Irish squad, and with a few retirements, Ed [Joyce] got in contact a few months back to see if something could be done. It was a little bit tricky with work, but I’m just really grateful that we’ve managed to find a way to work it out.  

“Being back a few weeks before the Sri Lanka series has been good. I’m coming off an off-season in Australia, so there hasn’t been much cricket for me of late. Unfortunately, I haven’t made any runs since returning, but I have found the transition from Australian wickets quite challenging. Getting the pace of the wickets is key – they can be a lot lower and slower here. So, even though my time in the middle hasn’t been that long, I think it’s been valuable.”

In the five years she has been away, Raymond-Hoey is pleased about the progress made in that time:

“I was really excited to come back and see how things have changed. Since I left, the girls are now professional, which wasn’t the case before I went away. The standard of training, the amount the girls are training, and the access they have – even to just doing gym sessions and recovering from that are very different. 

“Also, just the depth of standard in the Irish squad, and in the Super Series as well, has expanded from when I was last here. I think as well, the younger players within that have a lot more skills at a higher level in comparison to five years ago.”

And about the Sri Lanka series?

“I’m really excited to see where this Ireland squad is at. With Sri Lanka ranked so closely to us, I think it’s a good test and it always has been for the last ten years to be honest. It’s always one we want to win. From some of the innings that I’ve seen from the girls in the Super Series, I have no doubt that we have the ability to win this series, so I’m interested to see how that all comes together.”

SQUADS

The Ireland Women’s squads are:

T20I Squad:

• Laura Delany (c) (Leinster), Ava Canning (Leinster), Christina Coulter Reilly (Clontarf), Alana Dalzell (Bready), Amy Hunter (Instonians/Malahide), Arlene Kelly (Malahide), Gaby Lewis (Phoenix), Jane Maguire (The Hills), Cara Murray (Saintfield), Leah Paul (Merron), Orla Prendergast (Pembroke), Una Raymond-Hoey (Ringwood), Freya Sargent (Clontarf), Rebecca Stokell (Merrion).

ODI Squad:

• Laura Delany (c) (Leinster), Ava Canning (Leinster), Alana Dalzell (Bready), Amy Hunter (Instonians/Malahide), Arlene Kelly (Malahide), Gaby Lewis (Phoenix), Joanna Loughran (Leinster), Aimee Maguire (The Hills), Leah Paul (Merron), Orla Prendergast (Pembroke), Una Raymond-Hoey (Ringwood), Freya Sargent (Clontarf), Rebecca Stokell (Merrion), Alice Tector (Phoenix).

The touring Sri Lanka Women's squad is:

• Chamari Athapaththu (c), Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kawya Kavindi, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Sachini Nisansala, Inoshi Fernando, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana, Kaushini Nuthyangana.

FIXTURES

T20Is:

• 11 August 2024: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – 1^st T20I (Pembroke; start 4pm)
• 13 August 2024: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – 2^nd T20I (Pembroke; start 4pm)

ODIs:

• 16 August 2024: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – 1^st ODI (Stormont; start 10.45am)
• 18 August 2024: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – 2^nd ODI (Stormont; start 10.45am)
• 20 August 2024: Ireland vs Sri Lanka – 3^rd ODI (Stormont; start 10.45am)