In some fantastic news for women’s cricket and for the game, in general, cricket makes a comeback after 22 years at the Commonwealth Games. The schedule for the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham was recently announced and is set to showcase 19 different sports, including women’s cricket, across 11 days. The Birmingham CWG is scheduled between July 29 and August 8, 2 years later in 2022.
As per the schedule, all the matches will be played across 8 days between 8 teams at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground, under the supervision of the International Cricket Council (ICC). ICC is bestowed with the responsibility of fair and lawful conduct, along with the administration of the matches. This makes cricket one of the three new sports to be added to the next CWG from the last one in 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia. The other two sports are beach volleyball and para table tennis.
GREAT NEWS:
Cricket returns to Commonwealth Games and it will be an eight-team competition beginning on July 29, 2022, the opening day of the multi-sport event at Edgaston. pic.twitter.com/xl0ZBt8tL7
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 18, 2020
It will be interesting to see how the schedule is arranged by ICC, in the midst of the 50-overs World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Ashes, all scheduled in 2022. It is anticipated that the Top 8 teams of the ICC T20 rankings will participate in the showcase event, which will see cricket’s return to the Games for the first time since the 1998 CWG at Kuala Lumpur.
The 1998 edition saw some of the biggest names in modern cricket take the stage. This included the likes of Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist, and Ricky Ponting, to name just a few. However, that edition featured the 50-overs format. The 2022 CWG will see the fastest-growing and shortest form of the game replace 50-overs cricket, and will not see a return of men’s version, either. This is a testament to one of the fastest-growing sports of our times – women’s cricket.
In an interview for the Athletics Weekly, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO, David Grevemberg said, “This innovative and exciting sports schedule highlights exceptional partnership working with so many stakeholders to ensure the UK stages a fantastic, celebratory summer of sport in 2022.”
The Edgbaston Cricket Ground will be proud hosts of cricket’s return at the Games, after being one of the most exclusive test venues in world cricket. The last marquee match to be played at the Edgbaston Stadium was the 2019 World Cup semi-finals between hosts, England, and defending champions, Australia.
The line-up for women’s cricket keeps getting more and more exciting every day, and we just can’t wait.
Your average cricket enthusiast. Loves to write about what he loves to watch.