ICC announces Women’s teams’ Qualification pathways for 2022 Commonwealth Games

With women’s cricket gearing up for the first appearance in the Commonwealth Games after the men’s cricket did it back in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games, the ICC are quick to deliver the Qualification pathway. Being the host country, England have grabbed a spot directly while six other highest-ranked ICC Members as of 1 April 2021 will qualify directly. The eighth spot will be decided through a Qualifier tournament - the details of which will be announced in due course.

"Cricket at the Commonwealth Games is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to grow the women’s game globally. We are committed to accelerating this growth and maintaining the momentum we have created over the past few years, which most recently saw 86,174 fans packed into the MCG for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020,” ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said in a statement.

"I thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for their support and for making this possible. We share with them the vision of greater equality, fairness, and opportunity in sport and I am sure Birmingham 2022 will go a long way towards us achieving our common objectives."

Given the fact that West Indies can’t play with the name West Indies if they take a slot, the winner of a designated qualifying tournament will decide which country gets to compete from the Caribbean. With the event gaining traction, Commonwealth Games Federation President Dame Louise Martin shared his excitement and hopes for a great season of cricketing extravaganza.

"Cricket has always been one of the Commonwealth’s most popular sports and it is so special to have it back at our Games for the first time since the men’s competition at Kuala Lumpur 1998, where true greats of the game including Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar were on show. 

“Now is the turn of the women and I can’t wait to see the next generation of stars like Heather Knight, Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning take center stage. Birmingham 2022 will be a fantastic showcase for the women’s game and the unveiling of the qualification criteria today is an exciting and important milestone as we head towards what will be a spectacular competition at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium,” Martin added.