2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier
Dates21 November – 5 December 2021
Administrator(s)International Cricket Council
Cricket formatList A, One Day International
Host(s) Zimbabwe
Participants9
Matches25
← 2017
2025 →

The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Zimbabwe in November and December 2021.[1] The tournament was the final part of the qualification process for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup.[2] All of the regional qualification tournaments used the Women's Twenty20 International format.[3] The tournament was the fifth edition of the World Cup Qualifier, with the fixtures played as 50-over matches.[4] Originally, the top three teams from the qualifier would have progressed to the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand,[5] with those top three teams, along with the next two best placed teams, also qualifying for the next cycle of the ICC Women's Championship.[6]

Originally, the qualifier was scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka from 3 to 19 July 2020.[7][8][9][10] In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that they were reviewing the scheduling of the tournament.[7][11] On 12 May 2020, the ICC confirmed that the tournament had been postponed.[12][13] In December 2020, the ICC confirmed that the qualifier would be played during June and July 2021.[14] In April 2021, the ICC postponed the tournament to November and December 2021.[15] In August 2021, the ICC confirmed the dates for the tournament, and that it would be played in Zimbabwe.[16] The full schedule for the tournament was announced in November 2021.[17] The ten teams were placed into two groups of five,[18] with the top three teams from each group advancing to the Super Six stage of the tournament.[19]

On 8 November 2021, Papua New Guinea announced that they had been forced to withdraw due to several players recording positive tests for COVID-19.[20][21] On 10 November, the ICC confirmed that there would be no replacement team for Papua New Guinea,[22] with Group A reduced to four teams.[23] In late November 2021, a new variant of the COVID-19 virus was discovered in southern Africa,[24] with Cricket Ireland issued a statement saying they were monitoring the situation.[25] Prior to the discovery of the new variant, three members of the Sri Lankan team had tested positive for COVID-19.[26] Their scheduled match against the West Indies, due to take place on 27 November 2021, was cancelled after seven members of the Sri Lankan team tested positive.[27]

Later the same day, the ICC announced that the qualifier tournament had been called off, due to concerns of the new COVID variant and travel restrictions.[28] Per the ICC's playing conditions, the qualification slots were based on the team's ODI rankings, therefore Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies progressed to the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, with Sri Lanka and Ireland qualifying for the next ICC Women's Championship.[29] The decision was seen as controversial to some observers, given that at the point the tournament was abandoned, Thailand (an Associate team) had been leading their group and were already guaranteed a spot in the Super Six stage with two points carried forward, but were not given an opportunity to qualify for the World Cup (or the Women's Championship).[30][31][32] As a result, Thailand became the first team since the creation of the qualifiers in 2003 to win at least 3 of their first 4 matches without ultimately qualifying for the World Cup, as well as the second team since ODI status began to be offered in 2011 to win at least 3 matches overall without ultimately gaining ODI or Women's Championship status.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Zimbabwe to host Women's World Cup Qualifier in November". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Women's Cricket World Cup postponed until 2022". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Thailand plays host as the road to the Women's T20 and 50-over World Cups begins". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Pakistan aim to start well against Bangladesh; Confident Thailand face familiar rival in Zimbabwe". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "ICC Women's World Cups Qualification FAQs" (PDF). International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Zimbabwe to host ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b "COVID-19 update – ICC qualifying events". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka to host Women's World Cup Qualifiers in 2020". The Papare. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  9. ^ "ICC board and full council concludes in London". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Thailand Quadrangular disappointment for Women". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Women's World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka in doubt". The Papare. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  12. ^ "ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier postponed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Covid-19 effect: Women's World Cup Qualifier 2021 postponed". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Hosts New Zealand to kick off 2022 Women's ODI World Cup on March 4". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  15. ^ "The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board and Committee meetings have concluded following a series of virtual conference calls". ICC. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Women's ODI World Cup qualifier shifted from Sri Lanka to Zimbabwe; to begin in November". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  17. ^ "ICC Women's CWC Qualifier 2021 fixtures confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  18. ^ "ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier to open with Pakistan, Bangladesh match on November 21". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Pakistan, Bangladesh to kick off Women's ODI World Cup Qualifier in Harare". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Kumul Petroleum PNG Lewas forced by Covid to withdraw from Zimbabwe tour". Cricket PNG. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  21. ^ "PNG forced to withdraw from ODI World Cup qualifiers after several players test positive for Covid-19". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Papua New Guinea withdraw from Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Papua New Guinea withdraw from Women's WCQ". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  24. ^ "New Covid variant: How worried should we be?". BBC News. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Statement on emerging Covid-19 situation". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Three Sri Lanka Women players test positive for Covid-19". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Seven Sri Lanka Women players test positive for COVID-19". ThePapare. 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  28. ^ "ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 called off". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  29. ^ "ICC Women's CWC Qualifier in Zimbabwe abandoned amid Covid-related uncertainty". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Thailand halted by cricket's red tape". Emerging Cricket. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  31. ^ "Our women's team didn't get 'fair chance' to qualify for World Cup - Thailand board president". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  32. ^ "Thailand cruelly denied Cup, Championship berths". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 28 November 2021.