The coronavirus pandemic has forced a major reshuffle in women’s cricketing events. In August 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the ICC Women’s World Cup from 2021 to 2022. The tournament was supposed to be held in New Zealand, a country that has had the lowest rate of coronavirus infections and the move did raise some eyebrows. However, with 2022 now becoming a jam-packed year, the ICC have now made one more decision regarding women’s cricket. The ICC have now postponed the Women’s World T20 which was slated to held in South Africa in November 2022 to February 2023.
With the postponement of the World Cup to 2022 and with women’s cricket being included in the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the schedule would have been jam-packed heading into the World T20 in November 2022. ICC CEO Manu Sawhney released a statement stating that the main reason for the decision was taking into account player burnout issues.
“As there are currently no major women's events scheduled to take place in 2023 the Board confirmed the switch for the T20 World Cup to better support player preparation and to continue to build the momentum around the women's game beyond 2022. Firstly, it will provide a better workload balance for players giving them the best possible opportunity to perform to the highest levels on a global stage. Secondly, we can continue to build the momentum around the women's game through 2022 and into 2023. We are committed to fuelling the growth of the women's game and today's decision enables us to do that over the longer term,” the ICC statement read.
Women’s cricket in CWG 2022
The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday that Women's Cricket will be part of the Commonwealth Games, Birmingham 2022, scheduled from 28 July to 8 August. Apart from the announcement, the ICC and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) also laid out the qualification process for the 8-team event.
"Birmingham 2022 will be a fantastic showcase for the women’s game and the unveiling of the qualification criteria today is an exciting and important milestone as we head towards what will be a spectacular competition at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium."
Sawhney said, "Cricket at the Commonwealth Games is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to grow the women’s game globally. We are committed to accelerating this growth and maintaining the momentum we have created over the past few years, which most recently saw 86,174 fans packed into the MCG for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020."
Sawhney also commended the CGF for their support and thanked them for making it possible mentioning that it is an important step to achieve a common objective.The qualification process announced on Wednesday mean that the hosts England get a direct spot, while six other highest ranked teams in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as of 1 April 2021 will also qualify directly for the eight-team tournament.
The remaining one place will be allocated to the winner of a Commonwealth Games Qualifier, the details of which are still kept under the wraps. The deadline for the Qualifier is 31 January 2022. The tournament will take place at the iconic cricket ground in Edgbaston.
