Much to the delight of cricket fans around the world, 6 teams including India and Australia have qualified for the next Commonwealth games. The International Cricket Council announced that there will be a qualifying round to determine the final two teams that will play alongside England, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Cricket became the first sport to declare the qualifying teams for the next Commonwealth games which are scheduled to happen in 2022. On the basis of ICC Women’s Twenty20 Team ranking, top 6 teams have automatically qualified for the grand event.
The qualification tournament will determine which country from the Caribbean will participate in the event as players will be representing their individual nation and not the West Indies as they do at ICC events. The other team will be decided through a qualifying round which will be held by January 31, 2022.
Geoff Allardice, ICC Acting Chief Executive, said that the ICC is extremely proud and excited to be part of Birmingham 2022 and it is a fantastic opportunity to grow the women’s game at the global level.
We are committed to maintaining the momentum that saw 86,174 fans packed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 WC last year and Birmingham 2022 gives us another global stage on which to showcase the women’s game,
he said.
The inclusion of Women’s cricket in the Commonwealth Games was announced in August 2019. The sport returned to the mega event for the first time since the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, where South Africa defeated Australia in the 50-over format. This will be the very first instance when women’s cricket will be a part of the Commonwealth Games.
Dame Louise Martin, Commonwealth Games Federation President, claimed that it is an exciting milestone to announce the first teams to qualify for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Cricket is a sport that is synonymous with the Commonwealth and we are so excited to have it back in the Games for the first time since the men’s competition at Kuala Lumpur 1998,
she added.
The inclusion of women’s T20 cricket will be a historic moment for Commonwealth Sport and a wonderful showcase for women’s sport across the world. The teams will compete against each other at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium.
