New Zealand accept decision to postpone Women's World Cup
The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday, postponed the Women's World Cup until February 2022 due to uncertainty over COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the 50-over tournament was supposed to be played in New Zealand next year. Regarding the decision, New Zealand Sports Minister Grant Robertson asserted the cricket board was ready with the plans to host the tournament in 2021. Here is more.
We could have done it in 2021: Robertson
"This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world. We could have done it in 2021, but now we will look to 2022. As a government we have reiterated our commitment to supporting the tournament," Robertson said in a statement.
Local organizers consider it the right decision
Contrary to Sports Ministry, local organizers said the decision to postpone the tournament was the right one. "When you look at the situation around the world and the ability for teams to qualify and train and compete in what has to be their pinnacle event, delaying it a year just makes sense to have the best product," local organizing committee Chief Andrea Nelson said.
ICC Women's World Cup postponed to 2021
The ICC Women's World Cup was originally scheduled for the February-March window in 2021. However, several member countries, who attended the ICC Business Corporation meeting on Friday, raised concerns about the readiness of eight participants. Hence, the mega ICC tournament has been shifted to 2022 with an eye on maintaining the "integrity of the tournament". Meanwhile, the qualifiers will be played in July 2021.
The reason of postponement
ICC had rescheduled the qualifiers to November in UAE, which would determine the remaining three vacant slots for World Cup group fixtures. The three nations would have joined the five countries (Australia, England, South Africa, India, and hosts New Zealand) that had already qualified. However, the representatives of the PCB and BCB were concerned about the preparation for the qualifiers, with cricket being stalled.
India remain the hosts of 2021 T20 World Cup
The ICC also confirmed that India will remain the hosts of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, the succeeding edition (2022) will be held in Australia. Notably, the 2021 edition will follow the incumbent format. All the teams that qualified for the 2020 event will be part of the 2021 WC. Besides, a new qualification process will be in place for the 2022 event.
