The ICC’s qualification pathway for the next Women’s T20 World Cup has been announced this week, with an increase in the number of teams competing at regional qualifiers to 37. The event, to be held in South Africa, is currently scheduled for the 9th to the 26th of February in 2023, a date that has already been moved once due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Ten teams will compete in the main event, with hosts South Africa qualifying automatically and seven further slots determined by the ICC rankings as of 30 November 2021. The two remaining spots will be on the line at the 2022 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, an eight-team tournament drawing together the lowest-ranked teams in the top 10, the qualifiers from each of the five regional qualifiers, and the top-ranked runner-up.
The boosted regional qualifying pathway sees eight teams make their debuts at an ICC women’s event: Bhutan, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Malawi, Myanmar, the Philippines and Turkey. Argentina and Brazil, meanwhile, make their first appearance since 2012.
The qualifiers launch in August of next year, with Scotland holding the six-team Europe tournament, followed by a busy September where Samoa hosts seven other teams from East Asia Pacific, the USA hosts the four-team Americas event, and Malaysia is the venue of the eight-team Asia qualifier. The Africa qualifier follows in October, an 11-team bonanza being held in Botswana.
Speaking to Emerging Cricket about the country’s first qualifying campaign, France captain Emmanuelle Brelivet said: "It's an incredible opportunity, and we've already been training for several months to prepare for the tournament. In light of the sanitary context which prevents us from training together, we've put in place personalised, individual training programmes. We can't wait to play against the other teams in the tournament, and show that France has a place amongst cricketing nations."
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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