Ireland Women's captain Laura Delany says she is "delighted" to return to training with a possible rescheduled World Cup qualifier on the horizon.
Players and head coach Ed Joyce stepped back into the familiar surrounds of the Cricket Ireland High Performance Centre in Dublin this week, keen to blow off the cricketing cobwebs that had built up since lockdown began in March.
Despite the postponement of several international team fixtures in the last three months, Ireland could cement their place in next year’s planned 50-over World Cup in New Zealand if they were to prove successful at the qualifier tournament, which was scheduled to take place next month in Sri Lanka but was postponed due to the global pandemic.
A new date has yet to be decided, with the ICC to provide an update on the tournament’s status in due course.
Delany, who debuted internationally in 2010 and has been captain since 2016, was speaking after her first full training session at the High Performance Centre at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus.
"I’m delighted to be back. The squad has been itching to get back for a while now, so to be finally given the green light is great."
"It will take a little time to adjust to the protocols that have been put in place, but we have been educated on the detail of the protocols and the importance of adhering to them to protect everyone’s health and safety.
"Some of the new measures in place are quite obvious, such as keeping a two-metre distance, however, not picking up the balls after batting and washing your hands before you enter and leave different zones take some reminding. Thankfully the Covid-19 safety officers are there to provide that gentle reminder!"
While the lockdown caused a major disruption, Delany pointed out that the squad remained busy and engaged during that time.
"Ed and our management team kept the squad pretty busy over the last couple of months through online training sessions," she said.
"We’ve spent a lot of time analysing teams that we’re likely to face in the qualifiers and coming up with plans.
"We were also fortunate to have a few masterclass sessions with some top players [notably Meg Lanning and Anya Shrubsole] which proved to be very insightful and gave us a rare opportunity to ask these players their thought processes during certain situations we will find ourselves in."
Head coach Joyce says it is good to be back training on the pitch with the qualifier to the forefront of his thoughts.
"While the home season has obviously been impacted greatly, we’re still hopeful of the World Cup qualifier going ahead later in the year and we’ll put together a lead-in programme ahead of that," he said.
"I just hope a decision can be made early enough by the ICC to allow us to pull this together and give our squad the best chance to compete in this important tournament."
