ICC decides to hold maiden Under-19 World Cup for Women in 2021
In the ICC board meeting in Dubai, it has been decided that there will be a ICC -19 World Cup for girls and the first edition will be played in Bangladesh in 2021. ICC has also announced that the bidding process for the women's and Under-19 events for the eight-year cycle will begin in 2020.
After the huge success of the Youth World Cup, which was subsequently branded as the U19 World Cup, there were growing demands for a World Cup for U19 girls too. The ICC was also contemplating on the same, but the decision was delayed several times before yesterday.
In the controversial FTP meeting in the presence of ICC CEO and other chief executives, the ICC has decided that the Under-19 World Cup for the women will be held for the first time in 2021, with the tournament set to be played once every two years.
Apart from that, the cricket governing body has also announced that the eight-year cricketing cycle starting from 2023 will include one major men's and women's ICC event every year along with four events apiece for Under-19 men and women cricketers. Bangladesh is going to be the first host for the maiden tournament for U19 girls as the first edition of the tournament will be played in 2021 in the Asian country. The ICC also announced that the bidding process for the women's and Under-19 events for the eight-year cycle will begin in early 2020.
"In examining a whole range of options, the Board felt a major Men's and Women's event each year will bring consistency to our calendar whilst complementing bilateral cricket, giving our sport a strong future foundation," ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said, reported Cricbuzz.
"It will provide a clear structure and context to enable the growth of the sport and greater engagement opportunities for all of our stakeholders. The move towards a bidding model will give equal opportunities to all Members to host ICC events post 2023."
In another major news, there will be a new governance working group approved by the ICC which will "consider future governance structure of the ICC". The working group will be chaired by Cricket Australia's Earl Eddings, and will also have Greg Barclay (New Zealand Cricket), Tony Brian (Cricket Scotland), Ehsan Mani (Pakistan Cricket Board), Chris Nenzani (Cricket South Africa) and Ricky Skerritt (Cricket West Indies) in the structure.