‘It gives young girls something to aim for’ – Alana Dalzell on how women’s cricket is changing in Ireland

As one of the very few female bowlers in the country who can swing the ball away from the right-hander, Alana Dalzell enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2023 and is one of 23 women on the Ireland Women’s cricket team to secure a professional sporting contract.

After playing senior men’s cricket for her club, Bready CC, Alana played her debut game for the Ireland Women’s team against South Africa in 2022 in Dublin and was the first female international from the northwest of Ireland to play an ODI in 26 years.

Her love for the sport was instantaneous, with her journey beginning at home in her backyard in Derry.

“I was about eight or nine when I started playing cricket with my dad”, she explains, “Then, in primary school, they ran a cricket blitz, and I really enjoyed those. From there, I went on to join my local club down the road, and ever since then, I’ve been playing cricket.”

Alana has impressed fans both at home and abroad, travelling with the team to Spain and Zimbabwe in recent months. After a close result at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi recently, which saw the Irish team narrowly miss out on a spot in the finals, Alana says that training for the less-than-familiar weather conditions was a key part of the team’s preparation.

“Cal Burdett our S&C Coach [had] us doing loads of heat preparation. So we [did] our running in layers, with jumpers and stuff, and we [did] saunas and hot baths, which is quick tricky, but it’s definitely good because we [were] prepared.”

Tackling perceptions

Certa, the largest fuel supplier in Ireland, is working hard to support Cricket Ireland’s ambition to elevate women’s cricket and tackle the undeserved perceptions that it is too exclusive and too complicated. Serving as the title sponsor for the Ireland Women’s cricket team, Certa is helping to promote the sport and to attract young girls to take up the sport with local clubs, which Alana says has helped the team and sport to grow.

“Certa is really helping grow the game for us. With the whole atmosphere and hospitality, the fact we were able to put on good home games and things like that, we’ve been helped loads by Certa, so it’s great.”

Alana is a great example of how the stereotypes surrounding cricket in Ireland, including the perception that it is an exclusive South Dublin boy’s sport, are simply not the case.

Hailing from Co. Derry, Alana is no stranger to donning a pair of wellies and rising at the crack of dawn to help on the farm with her boyfriend.

“When I started out, cricket wasn’t that popular, especially on the female side of it, but more recently, it’s grown and grown”, she says. “It was always seen as a boy’s sport. But it’s getting more popular worldwide; I think more people are starting to catch on to it.”

Alana says that Cricket Ireland and the Ireland Women’s team are paving the way for the younger generation after setting a precedent in 2022 by being the second sport in the country, after rugby, to offer full-time professional contracts to female athletes, a move that could inspire more young women to strive for a career in sport.

“If you look at the Irish senior team, the introduction of contracts in the past few years is giving young girls something to aim for because they know there’s a pathway there, and they can make a living out of it.”

Alana says that young women who aspire to follow in her and her teammate’s footsteps should aim to work hard and prioritise keeping their passion for the sport alive.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself”, she says, “and make sure you’re always enjoying it because if you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point? It just becomes a chore. So just keep working hard.”

Certa is the title sponsor of the Ireland Women’s Cricket team. Certa’s ambition is to empower the team to continue pushing new boundaries and to perform competitively against the top nations in women’s cricket. They are also working with Cricket Ireland to help the sport thrive from grassroots to elite level and to inspire young players to follow their dream of becoming professional cricket players in Ireland.

Certa, part of the DCC plc, operates Ireland’s largest network of unmanned, pay@pump forecourts and home heating depots.

See certaireland.ie for more information.