Sandra Dawson, Ireland's wicket-keeper, will be keeping a diary of Ireland's progress during the CricInfo Women's World Cup. In her first entry Sandra introduces herself and talks about her team's hopes for the Tournament.

I was born in Dublin 1962, and I lived and worked in Dublin and Australia before moving to London 13 years ago. My father is Ronnie Dawson, who captained Ireland and the British Lions in 1959, playing as hooker. My ambition is to surpass his international record of 27 caps. I work for UBS Warburg (an investment bank) as Recruitment Manager, specialising in IT and Banking Operations.

I'm a wicketkeeper and a right-handed batter, with 21 full international Irish Caps. I started playing cricket at 16 with Merrion Cricket Club in Dublin and simultaneously introduced girls cricket to school (Alexandra College) in 1978. I jointly set up the first girls' league, which now boasts about 50 school teams in Dublin.

I enjoyed bowling but, alas, no coach could change my wrong-footed (though effective!) style, so I took up the gloves and gladly remain behind the sticks, controlling operations! I switched club a few times, playing in Dublin, London, and 'down under' in New South Wales.

Returning to Dublin in 1990 I rejoined YMCA Ladies as first choice keeper. I was invited to train with the Irish squad in 1991 and was first capped for Ireland during the 1993 World Cup held in UK; I played in 7 out of 8 matches. Due to recession in Ireland, I decided to stay in the UK to work and I've continued to travel back and forth to train with the squad since 1993. I've funded this myself, though I do get full sponsorship for kit from Gunn & Moore.

Wanting to play in the Premier Division, I changed clubs to Shepperton Ladies in 1996. I've been first choice keeper since and reached various semi-finals/final stages of league, cup and knockout competitions. I played in India in the 1997 World Cup, and though I vowed to retire afterwards I didn't! I'm delighted to be selected for the 2000 World Cup but I definitely intend to retire after it!

Ireland are currently ranked 6th in world and aim to stay within the top six to avoid the pre-qualifying tournament in 2003. Our objective this year is to reach the semi-final stages.

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