Irish women can hope New Zealand are tired

THE New Zealand women's cricket squad arrive in Dublin today at the end of a successful-tour of England, during which they beat their hosts 3-0 in the one-dayers and drew all three tests, probably nudging England off the top of the world rankings in the process. They will consider this as ample atonement for their World Cup final logs to the same opposition at Lord's three seasons ago.

Their visit has received an unprecedented level of media coverage, from ball-by-ball coverage of the one-day games by Sky (super slo-mo camera and all), to detailed reports in most of the English broadsheets. RTE have also shown, an interest, sending cameras to one of the Irish squad's sessions to monitor their preparation for this week's games against the tourists on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, all to be played in Dublin.

in for the Irish squad, ranked fifth in the world, these 50-over contests are the highlight of the season, providing some sort of yardstick in the run-up to the next World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in India the winter after next. The Kiwis are, of course, expected to win at a canter, but the fatigue caused by a busy, itinerary (15 games in six weeks) might help to even things up a little.

It would certainly help, for the tourists have some players of outstanding quality. Debbie Hockley, the most capped and highest run scorer in women's cricket history, has a tour average of over 70. Kirsty Flavell scored 208 in the first test at Scarborough a few weeks back breaking Australian Denise Annette's world record of 195. Maia Lewis and Shelley Fruin have, also scored runs regularly on tour.

Judging by the player profiles in their tour brochure, their bowling is made up of a mixture of medium-pacers and off-spinners, with the exception of Katrina Withers, who is categorised as right-arm fast. Withers is also employed as, national development officer, which goes some way to explain the importance of women's cricket in New Zealand.

The national team are sponsored by a telephone company, Clear Communications, while Shell have maintained their support for the annual Rosebowl series with Australia. This effectively means, players no longer have to pay their own way.

In contrast, the IWCU have been unable to find any sponsorship and have had to do their own fund-raising, as was the case when they played host to last year's European Cup, with the exception of the final day.

Still, the enthusiasm of the Irish players is remarkable. With the help of coaches Brendan O'Brien and John Wills, they have worked hard both in and out of season to improve standards, and the experiment of playing in men's teams has, worked extremely well.

This sense of unbridled enthusiasm is a notable feature of the women's game. In fact, Mark Nicholas, of the Daily Telegraph, was a little annoyed by the New Zealand women cheering loudly for every single run at Guildford at the weekend. One esteemed Dublin umpire also thought some of the celebrations during last summer's European Cup a tad excessive. Stick in the muds? Here's hoping the Irish team has something to celebrate this week.