James Cameron-Dow recounts working with Aimee Maguire after her suspension from bowling in international cricket and his best days with the Ireland Women’s team.

“It’s quite an isolating process for both a player and on the coaching side” remembers James Cameron-Dow.

He is of course referring to everything that led up to the re-testing of Aimee Maguire’s bowling action which proved successful and saw the left-arm-spinner return to full international duty.

Cameron-Dow has quite a few good days to look back on from his two and a half years working with the Ireland Women’s side. There was beating Sri Lanka 2-1 in an ODI series having just drawn the T20I series against the recent Asia Cup champions.

Not long after they drew another T20I series against England, and then whitewashed Bangladesh away to cap a remarkable few months in 2024. The trip to Loughborough for the re-test in August of 2025 however presented a completely different proposition.

“The re-test was quite something to be honest with you. I have never seen or experienced anything like it before, so I didn’t know what to expect”.

Both spinner and spin coach made the strange trip to the testing centre in Loughborough after countless hours working together. Grafting through drills, experimenting to try to figure out what her action needed to bring it within fifteen degrees of straightening.

“Aimee was an absolute superstar throughout because it could be quite a long boring process”.

Back in February, Maguire traveled over to the same location with then head coach of the Ireland Women’s team, Ed Joyce but it wasn’t a successful journey. Having been initially reported for a suspect bowling action during an ODI tour of India, the left-arm-spinner’s action was found to exceed the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted and she was soon suspended.

At the time Cameron-Dow was away in Malaysia with the Ireland Under-19s team for the 2025 World Cup, however a plan of action was soon formulated.

JCD makes sure to clarify matters when describing his time with the senior team: “I wasn’t really ever just the spin bowling coach. I was the Northern Irish-based coach working with Ireland players based up there. Then on tours I was the spin bowling coach which I think was possibly misunderstood by most”.

It was then decided after the suspension to move things around so that Cameron-Dow could work one-on-one with Aimee. This was where it all began. Plenty of remedial work to help Maguire remodel her bowling action.

“There were of course lots of downs unfortunately throughout that whole process. But none that she couldn’t handle because Aimee is an absolute champion”.

Most of us will never know what it’s like to be in that sort of situation, to potentially have your international career on the line like that with everyone watching. So what was it like on that trip for the re-test?

“There was definitely a big relief that it had been done”. As JCD tells it there was even a slight extra delay with the results coming a few days later than expected.

“Aimee was obviously completely over the moon, and I was absolutely delighted for her. It had been a really long process but she worked incredibly hard throughout. It was just a gigantic relief for everyone that was part of it”.

There were then a few nerves for both spinner and spin coach when Maguire made her full return to international cricket against South Africa, but by that stage the one-to-one sessions had come to an end and the left arm spinner hasn’t looked back since.

Fast forward to this summer at the 2026 T20 World Cup in England, and Ireland eventually get their first win at the event after 22 attempts across five editions when they secured victory over the West Indies, eventual semi-finalists. Both spinners Aimee Maguire and Cara Murray notably put in strong performances to get the result.

It proved a difficult campaign after a disheartening loss to Scotland in their tournament opener, but a very tight defeat to defending champions New Zealand showed what the side were capable of after dominating much of the game.

However for Cameron-Dow it all unfortunately came to an abrupt end later in the summer when Cricket Ireland’s High Performance department opted not to renew his contract. Chris Brown, spin coach with the Ireland Men’s team, was then sent to join up with the Women’s team for September’s ODI series against England.

With Lloyd Tennant as head coach there had already been changes in personnel; especially those from the previous regime. It’s understandable but you’d still be disappointed.

“The job had its challenges logistically with me being in the North and most of the players being based in the South, but they’re a great group. Always very receptive to info and any sort of assistance. I really enjoyed it all”.

The recent three-nil series defeat to England of course didn’t feature Aimee Maguire through injury which gave a spot to right arm off-spinner Kia McCartney, though legspinner Cara Murray provided some vital experience.

Given the importance of spin in women’s cricket you would wonder though how an Ireland bowling attack would hold up without Maguire and Cara Murray. McCartney along with Lara McBride have impressed at different points, but both are clearly at the very early stages of their international careers and still need time to hone their craft.

The good news though is that there are also promising spin options coming through the pathway with the left-arm-spin of Penny Speer plus legspinner Aisling Lawlor who can rip it sharply both ways. Both made their Super Series debuts this season and will feature in the Under-19 Women’s World Cup early next year in Bangladesh and Nepal.

There’s an important point in there however that close attention needs to be paid to Irish spin stocks especially in the Women’s game, given the need for it at the highest level.

“In the past we have relied on girls who are 15, 16, 17 to start bowling spin at that point whereas other countries are having spinners grow up through the girls pathway learning the art of spin bowling from a younger age”.

Spinners such as Aimee Maguire and Freya Sargent initially bowled seam but were able to successfully make the switch despite doing so later than those from other nations in international cricket. However now with someone like Aisling Lawlor, you’ve a spinner who has grown up just bowling spin. Hopefully there’s more of that to come.

Since finishing in his role with the Ireland Women’s team, Cameron-Dow has started a new coaching project with Michael Rippon, former left arm wrist spinner for New Zealand and the Netherlands. But most recently he has taken up the role of Women & Girls Pathway Lead with the Northern Cricket Union.

At the current Emerging Nations Trophy, the Ireland Women’s team will be without a spin coach however Chris Brown will dial in from the Ireland Wolves tour in Zimbabwe where he’s currently stationed to assist where he can.

So the world spins on. But whether it’s Loughborough, beating West Indies at the 2026 World Cup, beating England or those sweet series victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; JCD has plenty to savour from his time coaching with the Ireland side.

This article was originally published on the Substack: Dave Meets Ball