Indoor Cricket News: 2022 World Cup Fixtures Released, Teams and Format Confirmed, 43 Matches to be Broadcast Live

2022 Indoor Cricket World Cup
Casey Stadium, Melbourne
8-15 October 2022

The Big Picture

An Australia-New Zealand triple-header will kick off the 11th edition of the Indoor Cricket World Cup on 8 October, after the World Indoor Cricket Federation released the fixture schedule ahead of the tournament.

The eight-day tournament, to be held at Casey Stadium, Melbourne, will culminate with the grand finals of the Men’s, Women’s, and Under-22 Grades on Saturday 15 October. The finish will coincide with the start of the Men’s T20 World Cup, which is also being held across Australia.

The scheduled release has provided further developments in the tournament, including a major announcement by hosts Cricket Australia relating to their media coverage, with 43 matches to be broadcast live across streaming platform Kayo Sports (owned by Australian pay TV conglomerate Foxtel).

Australia have long dominated this version of the sport, winning all of the Men’s, Women’s and Under-22 titles contested at World Cups to date.

Leading sides return for triennial event

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the tournament is the first since 2017 (having been postponed since 2020). In this edition, eight countries comprising 18 teams will compete across the Men’s and Women’s grades, with a total of 108 matches to be contested. Hosts and defending champions Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, England, Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Africa, and the UAE are the countries which will all feature.

Noticeable absences from the tournament include England’s Women’s and Under-22 sides, with only England sending an Open Men’s side over. Meanwhile, the event will see the international debut of Singapore’s Women’s Team.

Due to the dearth of age-group teams (only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are sending sides over for both Under-22 Men and Women), the tournament has been split into separate grades for Men and Women, but this time with the inclusion of these Under-22 sides. This will provide a chance for the age-group teams to test themselves against the Men’s and Women’s (also known as Open-Level) Nations. There will still however be champions crowned in these grades, with grand finals to take place.

Open and Under-22 Men

Australia have won all 10 Open Men’s World titles to date and will rightfully take their place as favourites in this grade. They will head up the 11-team field in a round-robin format which will also feature New Zealand, South Africa, India, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Singapore, UAE, Australia Under-22, New Zealand Under-22, and South Africa Under-22. Malaysia is the only team not partaking from the previous World Cup which was held in the UAE in 2017.

Following the completion of the round-robin stages, the Men’s teams will be split, with the top four teams going on to play for the Cup, whilst the fifth to eighth-placed finishers will contest the Plate.

The Under-22 sides will drop off into their own grade at this time, with the top-placed finisher amongst the three going straight through to the grand final, whilst the second and third-placed teams will play off for the other grand final spot.

Open and Under-22 Women

As with their men’s counterparts, the Australian Women’s Team will enter the tournament defending a record which stretches back through all nine World Cups where a women’s grade has featured. They will contest a long 12-match double round-robin against New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Australia Under-22, New Zealand Under-22, and South Africa Under-22. While the grade has been affected by the absence of England’s Women’s sides (the UAE also competed at the last World Cup), it has been bolstered by the international debut of Singapore, competing for the first time on the world stage.

Following round-robin play, the grades will split off. The top-placed Open and Under-22 teams will go straight through to their respective finals. Preliminary finals will be played between the second and third-placed sides to decide the other grand finalists.

Media Announcement

In a major coup for the tournament, Cricket Australia announced that local sports streaming provider Kayo Sports will be broadcasting 43 matches live with commentary throughout the tournament, including all preliminary and grand finals. This will provide much-needed exposure to the format (known as Australia’s fourth cricket format). The sport has a passionate and dedicated following, with over 100,000 people participating in Australia in 2021/22, according to Cricket Australia.

In addition to the dedicated live match presence on one court, a fixed camera (with no commentary) will be provided on another court for viewing online, comprising an additional 38 matches.

Fixture List

The Official Fixture List for the 2022 Indoor Cricket World Cup as released by the World Indoor Cricket Federation and Cricket Australia is as below*. Entry to all matches is free of charge and visitors are welcome to come and view a high quality of international cricket from what is arguably cricket’s most underrated form.

*Broadcast indicates a Live Broadcasted TV match. The Live Stream indicates that the match will be shown online, with a fixed camera only.

What is Indoor Cricket?

Indoor Cricket is a variant of the traditional form of cricket. It is played within the confines of a netted indoor court which measures roughly 28m-30m long, 10m-12m wide, and has a roof which is approximately 4m high, at an indoor sports arena. The court is made of artificial turf with the pitch being the same length as a standard cricket pitch. A softer cricket ball is used, meaning less protective equipment is required.

Each team has eight players with an innings consisting of 16 overs. The batting team is split into four-over partnerships (or pairs) where two players bat together. Crucially, this means that all players on the batting team must bat for four overs and all players on the fielding team must bowl two overs each to make up the innings. For each dismissal during the four-over pair, five runs are deducted from the team’s total score (as opposed to a player being dismissed as in outdoor cricket).

The team chasing has to complete their 16 overs in total; the match does not end once they have crossed the opposing team’s score (as further dismissals could bring their score down).

In general, seven or eight points are available in any indoor cricket game (depending on which country it is played in). That consists of three or four points for an outright win, plus one point for each partnership won.

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