The inaugural edition of the highly awaited, International Cricket Council (ICC), Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in South Africa from the 14th to the 29th of January. Commenting on the tournament, former South African skipper, Graeme Smith and former India women’s team player, Snehal Pradhan, lauded the ICC’s move of getting started with the junior ICC tournament.
The inaugural first of the ICC Women’s U-19 World Cup will see 16 teams constituting 11 full ICC members and 5 associate nations divided into four groups (briefed below) compete across 41 matches over 15 days.
12 nations gained direct qualification for the tournament which see Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa (hosts), Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and the United States fall in the category. The 4 nations who’ve joined the 12 are United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the 6-team Asia qualifier, Indonesia in a bilateral East Asia Pacific (EAP) qualifier, Scotland in a bilateral Europe qualifier, and Rwanda from the 9-team contested, Africa qualifier.
Former international and now ICC Women’s Cricket Manager, Snehal Pradhan, applauded the ICC for introducing U19 Women’s Cricket World Cup.#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/TUQtW6fmOe
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 9, 2023
ICC U19 World Cup alumni, Graeme Smith, said, “A junior World Cup is such a terrific platform to assess where you are as a cricketer with aspirations for the future.
“It is very exciting to represent your country, at any level, and I am sure there have been goosebumps across all the teams who are flying in for the Under19 Women’s T20 World Cup. It’s incredible to think that rivalries that will play out for years will be established at this tournament, as well as friendships that will last a lifetime.”
ICC’s newly appointed, Women’s Cricket Manager, Snehal Pradhan, said, “It can’t be overstated what a great opportunity this is to experience a global event in their teens. They are getting the exposure that they deserve, and this will provide a great step to progress to senior cricket.
“That is a massive statement in itself, and we must commend the ICC and the different boards around the world for taking the growth of the game so seriously. Indonesia and Rwanda are playing a global event for the first time. Already, that is a success story before a ball has been bowled. Women deserve equal opportunity because this sport has huge popularity.”
Team groupings :
Group A : Australia, Bangladesh, United States of America, Sri Lanka
Group B : England, Pakistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe
Group C : Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, West Indies
Group D : India, Scotland, South Africa, United Arab Emirates
With a couple of games every day on schedule, it’ll be the contest between Australia and Bangladesh that gets the tournament underway on the 14th of January, and the doubleheader that’ll follow will see Sri Lanka and the United States of America lock horns.
The Super Six stage gets underway on the 20th of January and the tournament has its Semi-Finals and Final scheduled for the 27th and 29th of January respectively. In a precautionary move, while the 28th of January is scheduled as a reserve day for the Semi-Final, the 30th of January has been scheduled as a reserve day for the Final.
Quotes sourced from ICC Media Release