Ireland Women's wicket-keeper Mary Waldron is relishing the country's upcoming tour of Pakistan.

The six-match series will see Ed Joyce's side play six matches - three in the ODI Championship, as well as three T20I's.

“I saw the fixtures come out earlier this year and I’ve never wanted to be picked for a tour more," said Waldron.

"Pakistan has played a huge part in Irish cricket, our first ever Women’s and Men’s Tests were against Pakistan, and this tour will only strengthen that bond.

“Our primary aim in Abu Dhabi was to qualify for the T20 World Cup. We’ve got a really young side, but for myself, Dells [Laura Delany] and Shauna there were some scars from losing to Thailand in 2019 [a 2-run DLS loss]. So, to qualify for our first World Cup since 2018 was pretty ground-breaking. Shauna and I have been thanking Dells a lot for seeing us home against Zimbabwe!

“Our training for this series isn’t a lot different than it was for the Qualifiers, but we’re not expecting it to be quite as hot as Abu Dhabi was. We’re continuing to do a lot of sauna training and from a wicketkeeping perspective, it’s about staying low and watching the ball. I’ll be working hard in the nets to get miles in my legs ahead of the ODIs.

“When we look at this series, we know that Pakistan is a team we can compete with. Ed is teaching us to take the game on and take the game as close as possible. Success is more about the brand of cricket we play but any win for us away from home would be significant.”

Despite the historic nature of the tour, Waldron is conscious that there will be a significant security presence and that player’s will be fairly restricted in their movements:

“It will be a high security environment, so the importance of camaraderie among the squad cannot be under-estimated. We’re a funny group in that we’re a mix of ages. The group of girls we have are brilliant people and it’s nearly irrelevant sometimes how the cricket goes in the sense that we enjoy each other’s company regardless of if we’ve won or lost.”

Waldron is just 13 caps shy of Mary Shillington’s record of 180, but that’s not something that motivates the Dubliner.

“I just take it season by season. I don’t have any goals around caps. On a personal level I’d like to score a hundred for Ireland but I’m more driven by being a part of the wins to come and helping bring the younger players through.”

When asked about her own sporting journey and what her advice is for girls playing lots of sports, Waldron, who also captained Ireland football team at Under–19 level, said:

“Play as many sports as you can. The different skills and attributes you pick up in the young years pays a lot of dividends. I even realise now that the skills and mobility I developed from playing basketball helped when it came to wicketkeeping.

“Even if you zone in on cricket, it’s a tough sport with not a lot of forgiveness. In football if you lose the ball you chase for it, but in cricket you might not get another chance. My advice is to have other outlets, but, in the end, settle on cricket!”