The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the postponement of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Europe Division 2 due to coronavirus pandemic.
ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said, “In light of the continuing travel restrictions, global health concerns and government and public health authority advice we have decided to postpone two further upcoming qualifying events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the Europe qualifier to the U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 have both been impacted.”
“Our priority during this difficult period is to protect the well-being of players, coaches, officials, fans and the whole cricket community and we will take well-informed, responsible decisions in relation to both postponing events and resuming international cricket,” he added.
The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier was due to take place in Sri Lanka between 3 and 19 July, where three teams were to qualify for the Women Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand.
The start of the journey to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 was scheduled to begin with the European Regional Qualifier in Denmark between 24 and 30 July.
Two ICC qualifying events, including the Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka, have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
— ICC (@ICC) May 12, 2020
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“These are both important events with the Women’s CWC Qualifier one step away from New Zealand 2021 and the Europe qualifier which signifies the start of the U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 pathway,” he said.
The decision to postpone the qualifiers have taken after discussion with the relevant government and public health authorities. The ICC will work with all taking part Members to identify when these events will be staged.
“We will work in partnership with the Members to find an appropriate window to reschedule these events as soon as is safe and practical to do so. I would like to thank the Members for their cooperation and continued support,” he concluded.
The two remaining ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Regional Qualifier Division 2 events are being monitored and kept under review: the Africa event is due to take place in Tanzania between 7 and 14 August and the Asia event between 1 and 9 December in Thailand. The Division 1 events in all five regions are scheduled to take place in 2021.
