The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Tuesday (December 15), announced the revised schedule for the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup which was earlier scheduled to be played in 2021 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tournament will now kick off on March 4 in New Zealand, with the final set to be played on April 3 under lights at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The 8-team 50-over tournament will play out across 31 matches in 6 cities: Auckland (Eden Park), Hamilton (Seddon Park), Tauranga (Bay Oval), Wellington (Basin Reserve), Christchurch (Hagley Oval), Dunedin (University Oval). The semifinals will be played at the Hagley Oval and Basin Reserve.
New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and India have already qualified for the World Cup. The three remaining teams will emerge from the ICC qualifying tournament which is set to take place from June 26-10 July, 2021 in Sri Lanka.
The tournament opener will be played between hosts New Zealand and one of the teams from the qualifiers.
“The ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women’s cricket as part of our strategy to grow and develop the global game,” Manu Sawhney, the ICC CEO, said in a statement. “We are extremely proud of the significant progress we have made in increasing prize money for ICC events over the last few years, with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand having $NZD5.5 million dollars available in prize money, an increase of almost 60% on 2017 and more than 1000% compared to 2013.”
With the match schedule now locked in, ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup CEO Andrea Nelson, said, “Our team is proud to be delivering a tournament where Kiwis across the whole country, in each of our six host cities, can really get involved in what is a truly special event. We can’t wait to see the excitement build around New Zealand as we prepare to roll out the welcome mat for the rest of the world.
“Major events like this one are all about creating a genuine legacy for the sport and we are proud to say our tournament was the catalyst for the installation of the Hagley Oval lights. I’d like to thank the New Zealand Government and the Canterbury Cricket Trust for making that happen.”
The second semi-final and the final, at the Hagley Oval, will be day-night contests. All the seven matches at the Basin Reserve, which also hosts the first semifinal, will be day affairs, much like all the three matches hosted by Dunedin.
