Ireland Women’s cricket has entered a new chapter with the appointment of Lloyd Tennant as their new Head Coach, succeeding Ed Joyce, who stepped down after nearly six years in charge.
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The move comes after Ireland failed to qualify for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India, finishing outside the qualification spots in the recent Qualifier in Pakistan. Tennant, an ECB Level 4 qualified coach, brings over 30 years of experience across men’s and women’s high-performance cricket. He officially begins his tenure on June 1, 2025, with a strong emphasis on continuing the development work initiated under Joyce. Tennant’s first challenge begins on July 20, when Ireland hosts Zimbabwe for a white-ball series comprising three T20Is and two ODIs, followed by three T20Is against Pakistan in August.
Speaking on his appointment, Tennant expressed enthusiasm, calling it a great time to be involved in women’s cricket due to its global growth. He credited Joyce for transforming the Ireland Women’s setup and emphasized his desire to build on that progress, especially in nurturing a squad full of young, ambitious cricketers.
“I’m very excited about this new role – it’s such a great time to be involved in women’s cricket, given its rapid development around the world,” said Tennant. This Ireland Women’s squad has moved forward enormously under the guidance of Ed Joyce, and I would like to continue his great work, supporting this squad as it continues to grow. To be honest, I can’t wait to get started,” Tennant was quoted as saying by the ICC.
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Joyce’s reflections on his coaching career
Meanwhile, outgoing coach Ed Joyce reflected on his tenure with pride, pointing to two significant achievements: the transformation of Ireland Women from a largely amateur unit to a more professional setup with several full-time players, and the revamping of squad personnel with a promising new generation. He said the visible growth and performances of these players at the highest level stood out as the most rewarding aspect of his tenure.
“The first was when we went from a mainly amateur team to a far more professional set up both in terms of coaches and staffing as well as the playing squad. We currently have a good number of full-time players in there which is great, and we’ve been trying to push that on. The second thing is the change in the personnel in the squad. We’ve lost some big players over the last couple of years and replacing them has obviously been very tricky. But with the younger players who have come in, that hunger and the desire to play in this team has been really clear from the outset,” Joyce was quoted as saying by the Cricket Ireland.
Joyce further acknowledged the challenges of replacing senior players but praised the hunger and impact of the younger cohort over the last 12–18 months.
“They’ve made their mark in a massive way over the last 12 to 18 months – so that’s been great to see. I’m really proud of the part that all the staff have played in that. It’s the big reward for coaches to see players performing at the biggest stage and lots of players have done that,” Joyce concluded.
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This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.
