“Refocusing is now the big message”

SYLHET, Bangladesh – The Ireland Women’s captain spoke from the team hotel earlier today with attention now fully on the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh Women starting tomorrow.

Lewis, 23, is Ireland’s fifth-most capped women’s international after making her international debut in 2014 at the age of 13. Along with her 158 caps, she took charge as full-time captain during the recent ODI series in Bangladesh having filled in at different points before. Ahead of the T20I series tomorrow she looked back at what could be taken from the previous three ODIs despite not getting the results they wanted:

“What impressed me the most during the ODI series was our improvement from Game One to Game Two. We obviously didn’t have a great performance in the first ODI but the squad adapted really well heading into the second and took on those little lessons and put them into place. It’s brilliant to see that kind of ability to bounce back. That’s what we’re looking for going into the T20I series.”

On adapting to the conditions:

“It took a while to get used to. Also, coming from the pitches where we were playing before. Some of the squad were training in North County [Dublin] while others were playing in Australia. I think it’s always a bit different with the slow pitches here and with wickets turning more than we have faced before. But it’s just about adapting. That was the big thing we knew coming over that it would be a matter of trying to adjust our game plans to the conditions that we’re faced with. We’re still figuring that out. But it’s just about making small adjustments that will hopefully make a big difference in these games.”

Their approach leading into the T20I series:

“I think it’s just a matter of resetting and keeping our spirits high while also going back to what makes us a good T20 team – especially with what we had shown during the Irish summer. It’s about remembering. Also having that confidence we got from those wins against England and Sri Lanka, as well as not shying away from our usual aggressive game plan we’ve shown in our T20 cricket over the last twelve months. So we have to park the recent ODI series a bit. Refocusing is now the big message from us.”

SCHEDULE

The T20I series will be live-streamed on the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Youtube channel.

5 December 2024 : Bangladesh v Ireland (1 st T20I; Sylhet; start 2pm)

: Bangladesh v Ireland (1 T20I; Sylhet; start 2pm) 7 December 2024 : Bangladesh v Ireland (2 nd T20I; Sylhet; start 2pm)

: Bangladesh v Ireland (2 T20I; Sylhet; start 2pm) 9 December 2024: Bangladesh v Ireland (3rd T20I; Sylhet; start 10am)

* all times local to the venue

T20I SQUAD

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