Full name Gaby Hollis Lewis Name Gaby Lewis | Bowling style Right-arm leg spin Batting style Right-handed Role Cricket Player | |
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T20I debut 9 September 2014 v South Africa women | ||
National side Ireland (2014–2015) | ||
World T20 | Gaby Lewis, Ireland's great batting hope
WT20Q: Meet Gaby Lewis
Gaby Hollis Lewis (born 27 March 2001) is an Irish international cricketer who made her senior debut for the Irish national team in July 2014, aged only 13. She made her Twenty20 International (T20I) debut later in the year, becoming the youngest to play at that level.
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Lewis was born in Dublin. Her older sister, Robyn Lewis, has played alongside her both at club and national level, while her father, Alan Lewis, and grandfather, Ian Lewis, both represented the Irish men's side. Both members of Dublin's YMCA Cricket Club, the Lewis sisters first came to attention in November 2013, when they were named in Cricket Ireland's Emerging Players Squad. Gaby Lewis was first called up to Ireland's senior team in July 2014, playing five matches against English county sides in the ECB Women's Twenty20 Cup. She subsequently made her international debut in August, playing twice against the Netherlands at the 2014 European Championship. In the second of those matches, she scored 38 from 35 balls coming in third in the batting order, which included a 94-run partnership with Clare Shillington (20 years her elder).
In September 2014, Lewis was selected in Ireland's squad for a three-match T20I series against South Africa, played at a neutral venue in Birmingham, England. She sat the first game out, but was included for the final two games, scoring five runs on debut and then 12 not out in the third game. On debut, Lewis was 13 years and 166 days old, breaking the record set by her teammate Lucy O'Reilly for the youngest T20I player. She also became the first international cricketer born in the 21st century. Across all men's and women's international cricket (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is), only Pakistan's Sajjida Shah has played at a younger age.
After her debut series against South Africa, Lewis next played at international level in August 2015, when she was named in Ireland's squad for a three-match series against Australia. In the first match, she came in sixth in the batting order, and scored 23 runs from 30 balls, behind only Cecelia Joyce for her team. She had less success, however, in the other matches, scoring four runs in the second game and ten in the third. Later in the year, Lewis also played in the 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Thailand. At the 2016 World Twenty20 in India, she played in two of her team's matches (against New Zealand and Sri Lanka), but had little impact.
