The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday postponed the Women’s T20 World Cup to February 2023 to avoid a cluster of big-ticket events in 2022 and manage players’ workload. The tournament was slated to be held in South Africa in November 2022 but will now be held in February 2023.
Earlier this year, the ICC had postponed the 50 over Women’s World Cup slated in New Zealand from 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and women’s T20 cricket is also set to make its debut in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, ICC also announced on Thursday.
“The Board confirmed that the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will move from its current slot at the end of 2022 to 9-26 February 2023,” ICC said in a release.
If not moved forward, “three major events in 2022 with the Commonwealth Games in July 2022 and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup due to be held in November 2022.”
“As there are currently no major women’s events scheduled to take place in 2023 the Board confirmed the switch for the T20 World Cup to better support player preparation and to continue to build the momentum around the women’s game beyond 2022,” the statement added.
The apex body also said the decision was taken keeping in mind the workload of the players and also considering the long-term interest in women’s cricket.
“Moving the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 2023 makes perfect sense on a number of levels,” Manu Sawhney, ICC CEO, said in the statement.
“Firstly, it will provide a better workload balance for players giving them the best possible opportunity to perform to the highest levels on a global stage. Secondly, we can continue to build the momentum around the women’s game through 2022 and into 2023. We are committed to fuelling the growth of the women’s game and today’s decision enables us to do that over the longer term.”