Ireland to host women's T20 qualifiers

Ireland will host the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifiers next year to determine which of eight teams will fill the final spot at the main tournament which will next be staged in Bangladesh in 2014.

For the qualifier, which will be held in July and August, hosts Ireland will be joined by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who both took part in this year's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, alongside Canada, Japan and Netherlands. The final two places in the summer tournament will be taken by qualifiers from the Africa and Asia regions.

Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland chief executive, said: "It's fantastic news for Irish cricket and a tremendous boost for the promotion of the women's game throughout the country."

Isobel Joyce, the Ireland captain, was looking forward to playing in home conditions. "This gives everyone involved in Irish women's cricket a great lift and it's a great incentive for the players to have the chance to make it to the final stages of a global event," she said. "We're already training hard for the event and while it's obviously a big advantage to be playing in our conditions, we know it'll be very difficult against teams of the quality of Pakistan and Sri Lanka."