On December 15, the ICC announced the full schedule of the Women’s World Cup 2022 that will be staged in New Zealand between March 4 and April 3. The tournament was postponed from its original window in February-March 2021. The mega event will be played across six venues, namely, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin among eight nations in a round-robin format. A total of 31 matches will be played, including two semi-finals and the final.
The inaugural game will be played at Tauranga’s Bay Oval between New Zealand and the qualifier, while the final will be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Both these games will be day-night ones. Out of the total 31 matches, 17 are day-night games.
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ICC announced complete schedule of Women’s World Cup 2022.
The 31 match tournament starts from 4th March 2022 and the Finals will be played on 3rd April 2022.
The tournament was postponed from original window i.e Feb-March 2021.#ICC #WomensWorldCup2022
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 15, 2020
Eight of the world’s best cricket nations will participate in the World Cup. At present, five teams that have qualified for the tournament are Australia, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa. The remaining three slots are open and the teams that emerge victorious in the qualifier that is confirmed to take place in Sri Lanka between June 26 and July 10 next year will get a chance to play the World Cup.
The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 will be the first of two major cricket tournaments across the globe in 2022 – the other being the Commonwealth Games in England. Prize money for the Women’s World Cup is NZD$5.5million. All the matches will be broadcast live to a huge global audience.
ICC CEO, Manu Sawhney said: “The ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women’s cricket as part of our strategy to grow and develop the global game. We want to build a sustainable foundation for women’s cricket. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of. This schedule takes the world’s best cricketers across New Zealand and can help inspire a generation of girls and boys to take up the game. We are extremely proud of the significant progress we have made in increasing prize money for ICC events over the last few years, with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand having $NZD5.5 million dollars available in prize money, an increase of almost 60% on 2017 and more than 1000% compared to 2013.”
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup CEO Andrea Nelson is excited to see New Zealand get behind the event. “Our team is proud to be delivering a tournament where Kiwis across the whole country, in each of our six host cities, can really get involved in what is a truly special event. We can’t wait to see the excitement build around New Zealand as we prepare to roll out the welcome mat for the rest of the world. Major events like this one are all about creating a genuine legacy for the sport and we are proud to say our tournament was the catalyst for the installation of the Hagley Oval lights. I’d like to thank the New Zealand Government and the Canterbury Cricket Trust for making that happen.”
ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 schedule
| Day and Date | Match | Venue |
| Fri 04 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v Qualifier* | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Sat 05 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v South Africa | University Oval, Dunedin |
| Sat 05 Mar 2022 | Australia v England* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Sun 06 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v India* | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Mon 07 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v Qualifier | University Oval, Dunedin |
| Tue 08 Mar 2022 | Australia v Qualifier * | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Wed 09 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v England | University Oval, Dunedin |
| Thu 10 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v India* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Fri 11 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v South Africa* | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Sat 12 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v India* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Sun 13 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v Australia | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Mon 14 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v Qualifier | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Mon 14 Mar 2022 | South Africa v England* | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Tue 15 Mar 2022 | Australia v Qualifier | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Wed 16 Mar 2022 | England v India* | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Thu 17 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v South Africa* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Fri 18 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v Qualifier | Bay Oval, Tauranga |
| Sat 19 Mar 2022 | India v Australia* | Eden Park, Auckland |
| Sun 20 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v England | Eden Park, Auckland |
| Mon 21 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v Qualifier* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Tue 22 Mar 2022 | South Africa v Australia | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Tue 22 Mar 2022 | India v Qualifier* | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Thu 24 Mar 2022 | South Africa v Qualifier | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Thu 24 Mar 2022 | England v Qualifier* | Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
| Fri 25 Mar 2022 | Qualifier v Australia | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Sat 26 Mar 2022 | New Zealand v Qualifier | Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
| Sun 27 Mar 2022 | England v Qualifier | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Sun 27 Mar 2022 | India v South Africa* | Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
| Wed 30 Mar 2022 | Semi-Final 1 | Basin Reserve, Wellington |
| Thu 31 Mar 2022 | Semi-Final 2* | Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
| Sun 03 Apr 2022 | FINAL* | Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
*denotes day/night
Quotes from players
India captain Mithali Raj said, “We have all been through a very difficult year and are happy to be getting back at playing the game we all love. India has been doing very well at ICC tournaments in the past three or four years, whether you talk about the (ODI) World Cup or the recently concluded T20 World Cup, and if we manage to win the tournament in 2022, it will be a massive inspiration for the next generation of girls, as the fifty-over format, is considered the pinnacle for any cricketer. I can assure you the team and I are looking forward to it.”
Captain Mithali Raj is looking forward to leading her side to a win at the Women’s World Cup 2022.
Here’s what the World Cup means to her: 👇#MithaliRaj | #WomensWorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/oJ9gC3wT09
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 15, 2020
South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk said, “Any time you get the chance to play for your country and wear the Proteas on your jersey it’s an honour. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity before to play at a Women’s Cricket World Cup, but every new time is more special than the last. Every young cricket player dreams of playing for their country at the highest level, and we are definitely looking forward to the CWC22 in New Zealand.”
New Zealand vice-captain Amy Satterthwaite said: “As a born-and-bred Cantabrian, it’s fantastic to see the Hagley Oval lights up and running. To play in a World Cup at our own stomping ground here in Christchurch, under lights, would be a real career highlight. It was hard to watch the T20 Women’s Cricket World Cup from the sidelines back in March (after giving birth in January) so seeing the match schedule all locked in for the ODI World Cup here in 2022 gives both myself and the rest of the team a target to strive for as we prepare over the next 16 months.”
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.
