Ireland have named two uncapped players in their squad for the upcoming ICC Emerging Nations Trophy tournament, while Lara Maritz is recalled to international duty five years after she last played for her country.

Seam bowling all-rounder Zara Craig, 23, and wicketkeeper-batter Abbi Harrison, 20, are both called up and will hope to make their first appearances.

Craig plays for Eglinton and Phoenix and has been part of the Irish talent pathway coming up through the underage levels, being a member of the 2023 Women’s Under-19s T20 World Cup squad.

Waringstown player Harrison was a member of both the 2023 and 2025 Women’s Under-19s T20 World Cup squads.

Twenty-five-year-old all-rounder Maritz has 43 caps to date, making her debut in 2017 and last turning out for Ireland in 2021.

Gaby Lewis will lead the 14-strong squad, with Amy Hunter taking on the vice-captaincy in the absence of Orla Prendergast, who has been granted permission to miss the tournament to participate in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.

Also missing for Ireland is Rebecca Stokell, who is serving a “voluntary suspension” after taking responsibility for an inadvertent breach of reporting requirements regarding the use of prescription medication.

Leah Paul has made herself unavailable for this tournament, while Christina Coulter Reilly is injured.

Kia McCartney, who has played in five ODIs but has yet to make her Ireland T20I debut, is selected.

The T20I competition will feature 10 teams and will be played in the United Arab Emirates from 12-25 November.

The tournament has been newly expanded to include five Full Members teams and five Associate teams, with Thailand having won the previous edition which involved only Associate nations.

Ireland will face Sri Lanka in their first Group A fixture on 12 November, followed by meetings with Papua New Guinea, UAE and Scotland.

“With no International cricket scheduled until March next year, the timing of the Emerging Nations Trophy provides our Performance Squad with the perfect opportunity to put the learning from the training programmes that have taken place over the last six weeks into high level competition,” said Graeme West, Director of High Performance at Cricket Ireland.

“The tournament itself offers our squad the opportunity to take on sides that share a similar goal of entering the top six ranked teams in the world, making for a very competitive event – just what we need as we build towards the next T20 World Cup in 2028.”

Ireland squad: Gaby Lewis (c), Amy Hunter (vc), Zara Craig, Alana Dalzell, Laura Delany, Georgina Dempsey, Abbi Harrison, Louise Little, Aimee Maguire, Jane Maguire, Lara Maritz, Lara McBride, Kia McCartney, Cara Murray.