Coronavirus outbreak: ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier postponed
The upcoming ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier has been postponed due to coronavirus pandemic. The Qualifier was scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka from July 3-19. Also, the Europe Qualifier which was deemed a qualification pathway to 2022 Under-19 World, has been deferred. International Cricket Council (ICC) head of events, Chris Tetley, made the announcement on Tuesday. Here is more.
"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," the statement read.
The ten-team event involving Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States, West Indies and Zimbabwe, was supposed to be held in July. As many as three teams would have qualified to fill the slots for the ICC Women's World Cup 2021. The Women's World Cup is scheduled to begin in February, next year.
ICC also postponed the Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Europe Division 2. The European Regional Qualifier was due to be played between July 24 and 30 in Denmark. The tournament became the latest to join the list of ICC qualifying events.
Tetley ensured that members will find a way to reschedule the tournaments, stating their importance. "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," he said. He added, "I would like to thank the Members for their cooperation and continued support."
The remaining two ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Regional Qualifier Division 2 events are being monitored presently. The events (Africa and Asia) are slated for the month of August and December respectively.
