Certa, Ireland’s largest fuel supplier, is set to drive Cricket Ireland’s ambition to develop women’s cricket as a major sport in Ireland after becoming the new title sponsor of the Ireland Women’s cricket team.

Certa, which is part of DCC plc, is a new brand operating in the fuel, home, business and lubricants space with a vision to become Ireland’s most progressive energy company. It operates Ireland’s largest network of unmanned, pay@pump forecourts and home heating depots.

The two-year partnership comes at a very exciting time for women’s cricket in Ireland, with Cricket Ireland becoming only the second sport in Ireland to offer full-time professional playing contracts for women last year, while the senior squads’ eye-catching performances against the world’s best teams have already seen them become the 10th ranked team in the world rankings.

Certa will support the team to continue pushing new boundaries and to perform competitively against the top nations in women’s cricket. It will also help the sport to thrive from grassroots to elite level and to inspire young players to follow their dream of becoming professional cricket players in Ireland.

Certa is part of communities all over Ireland with 39 unmanned, pay@pump forecourts and 22 home heating depots. It will develop campaigns that harness this network to raise awareness of the Ireland Women’s cricket team, to create a better understanding of the sport, and to build the profile of its rising stars.

Team captain Laura Delany and star player Gaby Lewis will take on roles as Certa Brand Ambassadors. They will support the company’s drive to connect people and businesses to the most progressive energy solutions available and to reduce their carbon footprint by switching to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a sustainable fuel.

23 players have been offered professional women’s playing contracts for 2023. The new partnership with Certa has been announced as the Ireland Women’s team prepares to compete against recently crowned T20 World Champions, Australia, who are set to visit Clontarf for a three-match ODI series this July.

The Ireland Women’s team secured a memorable win over Australia in a T20 World Cup warm-up game and are aiming to repeat the feat with home support. The series will be preceded by a six-match tour to the Caribbean for a series against the West Indies and will be followed by a three-match tour to the Netherlands.

Andrew Graham, Managing Director, Certa Ireland said:

“Certa is excited to get behind such a progressive sport and trailblazing team. These women are the rising stars of Irish sport, and they share our values of pushing new boundaries and challenging the status quo. Their achievements are an inspiration to people of all ages, and they deserve a bigger spotlight.

“In little over one year, they have introduced full-time professional contracts in Ireland that have already raised their standard of competitiveness against the world’s best teams. Their culture of high performance and pursuit of excellence is shared by everyone at Certa, and we look forward to working together to move the dial on how the Ireland Women’s cricket team performs and advances through the world rankings.”

Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland said:

“We are delighted to announce this partnership with Certa as the new title sponsors of the Ireland Women’s cricket team. This is a great step forward for women’s cricket in Ireland, and to take this step with a renowned Irish brand is genuinely exciting. Certa and Cricket Ireland will be working together to grow the profile, brand and engagement of women’s and girls’ cricket, from grassroots to elite level.

“The Ireland Women’s cricket team have demonstrated over the last couple of years that they are able to compete with the best teams in the world. The experience that this young squad is gaining is invaluable to their ongoing development and to the profile of cricket in Ireland. We are very much looking forward to the summer fixtures against Australia, the West Indies and the Netherlands. It continues to be an exciting time for Ed Joyce and his squad, and we wish them all the best in the exciting next couple of years with our new partners.”   

All images Stephen McCarthy (Sportsfile).