Laura Katherine Delany (born 23 December 1992) is an Irish

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who currently

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Typhoons A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

. She is a right-handed batter and right-arm

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

bowler. Delany made her debut for Ireland in a Women's One-Day International (WODI) against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at Kibworth Cricket Club New Ground in July 2010. In July 2021, during Ireland's home series against the Netherlands, Delany broke the captaincy record for her team, leading them for the 63rd time, passing

Isobel Joyce Isobel Mary Helen Cecilia Joyce (born 25 July 1983) is an Irish former cricketer. She played as a right-handed batter and left-arm medium pace bowler. She appeared in one Test match, 79 One Day Internationals and 55 Twenty20 Internationals fo ...

's record of 62 matches as captain. In November 2021, Delany was named the ICC Player of the Month.

Biography

In April 2016, she was named as captain of Ireland replacing

who stepped down after the

2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2016 Women's World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup, Women's World Twenty20, the world championship of women's Twenty20 International cricket. India hosted the event for the first time, with matches played from 1 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In May 2017, she played in her 100th international match, when Ireland played

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the 2017 South Africa Quadrangular Series. In June 2018, she was named as captain of Ireland for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament held from 7 to 14 July 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the third edition of the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and was the qualification tournament ...

tournament. In October 2018, she was named as captain of Ireland's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Indies wer ...

tournament in the West Indies. The following month, she was named the Women's International Player of the Year at the annual Cricket Ireland Awards. In August 2019, she was named as the captain of Ireland's squad for the

2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2019 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in August and September 2019 in Scotland. It was the fourth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and was the qualification tour ...

tournament in Scotland. In July 2020, she was awarded a part-time professional contract by

Cricket Ireland Cricket Ireland (formerly the Irish Cricket Union) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and oversees the national Ireland cricket team, men' ...

for the following year. In the

Women's Super Series The Women's Super Series, previously known as the Women's Super 3s, is a women's domestic cricket tournament organised by Cricket Ireland. The tournament began in 2015 as a combined 50-over and Twenty20 tournament, with three teams taking part: ...

, she played for

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

in 2015 and 2016, and captained them in 2016. She joined

in 2017, and has captained them ever since, including to their first title in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. In November 2021, she was named as the captain of Ireland's team for the

2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Zimbabwe in November and December 2021. The tournament was the final part of the qualification process for the 2022 Women's Cricket Worl ...

tournament in Zimbabwe. In September 2023, it was announced that Delany had signed for

North West Thunder North West Thunder, commonly referred to as Thunder, were a women's cricket team that represented Lancashire and North West England, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They played their home matches at various groun ...

for the side's remaining

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was an English and Welsh women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who died in 2017. The Trophy was held from 2020 to 2024, and was the premier women's 50-ov ...

matches. Delany was named in the Ireland squad for their T20I and ODI tour to Bangladesh in November 2024. Delany was part of the Ireland squad for the

2025 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Pakistan in April 2025. The tournament served as the final stage of the qualification process for the 2025 Women's Cricket World ...

in Pakistan in April 2025.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delany, Laura 1992 births Living people Cricketers from Dublin (city) Irish women cricketers Ireland women One Day International cricketers Ireland women Twenty20 International cricketers Irish women cricket captains Dragons (women's cricket) cricketers Typhoons (women's cricket) cricketers North West Thunder cricketers Irish expatriate cricketers in England