Davy Scanlon excited for Ireland Women's coaching opportunity in 'as big as it can get' series against England
Having been added to Ed Joyce’s coaching staff, Davy Scanlon admits Ireland Women’s three-match ODI series against England is “as big as it can get” and is relishing the opportunity to be involved with international cricket for the first time.
The 40-year-old, who made 24 Inter-Provincial appearances across formats for the North West Warriors and still turns out for local club Bready, has made the transition into coaching having been employed in a Development Officer role in recent years, working to strengthen and develop clubs and school programmes.
Progressing into the high performance arena, Scanlon has been working with the Dragons in the Evoke Super Series throughout 2024 and is part of the national pathway.
Ireland’s ODI series against 2017 world champions England will take place at Stormont, starting on Saturday before further clashes on Monday and Wednesday with Instonians star Amy Hunter included in the squad.
“I'm really excited to get involved in the Ireland v England series – to take on England at home is as big as it can get, and I’m thankful to Ed Joyce, Cricket Ireland and the North West Cricket Union for giving me the chance to experience something of this magnitude,” said Scanlon. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to contribute to the coaching side as much as I can.
“It’s opportunities like this, and being with the under-19s last week, that will help further develop my coaching skills. Moving from participation programmes into the performance space has been something that I've wanted to do for the past couple of years.
“Getting the opportunity to head up the female section within the North West was a great start. The level of talent we have coming through has made it easier in that switch in focus as there's a real drive to develop the game in the North West, as well as the whole of Ireland.
"Getting the opportunity to work with James Cameron-Dow within the Dragons set up - and ultimately stepping in once he had moved up - was, I'm not going to lie, daunting and a massive step up in terms of skill levels and the calibre of players I had the chance to work with.
"The players in the squad made it a really enjoyable experience, though, and I hope we can continue the excellent season we have just had moving into next year.”
On the upcoming series, Scanlon added: “I expect a really high level of cricket from some of the most exciting talent within the English set up. Being recently in Loughborough at the national school games, you saw the level of players at their disposal at even the under-19s level.
“It will be exciting for our squad to take on an English team that features full internationals, as well as players that play in the domestic county competitions and The Hundred.
“The recent Sri Lanka series should give our players confidence that they can compete with the very best in the world. Everyone played a part in winning that ODI series last month, but we must come hard again and perform to the best of our abilities to take on this next challenge.”