Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said it has submitted its bid for the inclusion of T20 women’s cricket into the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The bid, which has been made in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will see the women’s team sport apply to become part of the Commonwealth Games family.
Cricket has made just one appearance at the Games previously, with men playing in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur where South Africa stood on top of the podium.
“The application for inclusion of women’s cricket for Birmingham 2022 is part of the global strategy for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world and to drive greater levels of inclusivity and opportunity throughout the sport,” said the ICC in a statement.
“The ICC has the unanimous backing of its Members and Board of Directors to pursue the inclusion of women’s cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. An ICC and ECB delegation will present its bid for the inclusion of women’s cricket in the Birmingham 2022 sporting programme to an assessment panel early next month,” it added.
The bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation proposes an eight team T20 event played in two pools of four teams and totalling 16 matches in eight days held at two venues.
India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur too welcomed the ICC bid.
“It’s a great idea, and we’ll get more fan following when we introduce cricket to Commonwealth Games. We can get more fans, we can get more games to improve our cricket. I’m really happy we’re going to get more games to play,” said Kaur.
