ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Postponed

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the postponement of the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka, with pathways for the 2022 U19 World Cup also impacted.

Scheduled for the 3rd to the 19th of July, the tournament met its inevitable fate today as members and health authorities deemed the allotted time-frame too soon for a return. The first qualification event for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022, the European Regional Qualifier in Denmark pencilled in for late July, was also postponed.

In what will be a fiercely competitive tournament, only three spots are available for the ten participants in the Women’s Qualifier, with six of them being Full Members: Sri Lanka, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe. The tournament proper is still scheduled for 6 February to 7 March, despite rumours of a potential rescheduling.

“These (tournaments) are both important events with the Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier one step away from New Zealand 2021 and the Europe qualifier which signifies the start of the U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 pathway. We will work in partnership with the Members to find an appropriate window to reschedule these events as soon as is safe and practical to do so,” ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said.

“Our priority during this difficult period is to protect the well-being of players, coaches, officials, fans and the whole cricket community and we will take well-informed, responsible decisions in relation to both postponing events and resuming international cricket.”

Division 2 events for Africa and Asian qualifying for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Regional Qualifier are being monitored, slated for August and December respectively. Division 1 events across the world are all to be held in 2021.

The ICC will work with all participating members to identify when these events will be able to be staged.

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