Ireland has played in the Women's T20 World Cup three times with its first appearance back in 2014 ©Getty Images

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier is set to begin tomorrow with France due to compete in an ICC women's event for the first time.

The winner of the event will progress to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier where they will be able to fight for a place in the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

The French will be joined by Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland at La Manga in Spain, for the tournament, scheduled to run until Monday (August 30).

Turkey was also set to make its debut at the competition but had to withdraw as it was not granted the necessary approval and travel documentation from its Government due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Ireland is the highest ranked team at the tournament as they sit 10th in the Women's T20 team rankings.

The country goes into the qualifiers in good form after beating Dutch Lionesses last month 2-1 in a series as well as Scotland 3-1 in May.

Australia won the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup against India in Melbourne ©Getty Images
Australia won the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup against India in Melbourne ©Getty Images

Germany will also be feeling quietly confident going into the European matches, having defeated neighbours France in their five-match series in Krefeld in July, extending the Golden Eagles’ unbeaten run to 14 matches.  

"We are delighted to welcome the return of ICC pathway events to Europe with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier starting at the end of this month, and in particular to see France and Turkey making history in competing in their first ICC women’s event," said Chris Tetley, ICC head of events, speaking prior to Turkey's withdrawal.

"I would like to thank the host Cricket Espana, all the participating teams and everyone involved for their patience and hard work to get to this point."

The Netherlands start the day's action at 10.30am local time against Scotland while Ireland face Germany simultaneously.

Later on, the Dutch are scheduled to be in action again, against France at 3.30pm local time.

The event will be live streamed globally, ensuring more cricket than ever before is accessible to fans around the world.

The partnership will also deliver the ICC women’s pathway event content for ICC digital channels, with the ambition to attract new fans globally.

The coverage will be produced by CricClubs with each match available to watch on FanCode and ICC.tv.