The coronavirus pandemic has hit women’s cricket hard with no cricket of any kind being played ever since the end of the ICC World T20 final between Australia and India in March at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There was a proposed series between England, South Africa and India but that series was postponed as India and South Africa did not get the necessary permissions to travel due to the coronavirus situation. However, the lack of action for 2020 and the first half of 2021 might be compensated in a big way in 2022 with four major tournaments, especially for Australia, the reigning T20 champions.
The year 2022 will see the ICC Women’s World Cup, the 2022 World T20, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and for Australia, the Women’s Ashes. The ICC Women’s World Cup was scheduled in February-March 2021 in New Zealand but the ICC postponed the event to 2022 due to the second wave of the coronavirus which is affecting both Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking about the prospects of four major events in 2022, Australia’s star keeper Alyssa Healy has said it will be a daunting prospect but it will be a very exciting period. “The opportunity to play four big major worldwide events in one year is obviously daunting, but it`s also exciting for us to showcase the women’s game on an international scale as big as that. I think most of the girls around the world would be chomping at the bits to be part of it,” Healy said.
Healy, who starred in the final with an aggressive fifty against India, said working out the logistics will be the key. “It will be interesting to see how they [the ICC] are able to balance all those events. Enabling all the international sides to have proper preparation for those big tournaments is key, and if that`s not able to take place, then they’re obviously going to look at rescheduling some of the events,” Healy said.
Excited for 2022
There is a possibility that there might be some cricket by the end of September with Australia taking on New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20Is. Australia skipper Meg Lanning has said this is light at the end of a dark tunnel which saw their disappointment of the postponement of the ICC Women’s World Cup.
“We were disappointed the World Cup got pushed back by a year; we were gearing up for that as a bit of light at the end of the tunnel but at the same time we understand the decision. There’s so much that goes into those things and probably a lot we don’t know or understand and that`s the decision the ICC has made,” Lanning said.
Recently, there was a documentary released by the ICC titled ‘Beyond the Boundary’ and Healy said this rekindled their passion to get back on the field. “This rekindled the desire among women cricketers to get back on the field."The last thing that everyone remembers [about women’s cricket] is the [T20] World Cup, and to relive that through the documentary was timely, in my mind. For us players, it reignites the craving to go out there and play cricket," Healy said.
