The next edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa has been postponed by three months, from November 2022 to February 2023, to avoid a cluster of marquee events and manage players’ workload, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.
Confirming the decision to spread the big-ticketing events across two calendar years, ICC CEO Manu Sawhney said: “Moving the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 2023 makes perfect sense on a number of levels. 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 fueling the growth of the women’s game and today’s decision enables us to do that over the longer term.”
Earlier in August, the ICC had also postponed the 2021 edition of the 50-over Women’s World Cup to 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the World Cup, the women’s game will also see the top teams playing cricket in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
“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,” ICC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, no decision was made by the apex cricketing body regarding the first-ever Under-19 Women’s World Cup, which was given to Bangladesh to host in January 2021.
With inputs from ANI
