By Kevin Mapasure
THE eight women’s national sides which were in Zimbabwe for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup qualifiers left the country aboard a chartered flight following the cancellation of the tournament.
The ICC cancelled the tournament after several countries introduced travel restrictions following news that a new COVID-19 variant had been detected in South Africa.
Some countries have since banned flights to and from Zimbabwe and other southern African countries and continuing with the tournament became complicated.
The ICC announced the decision on Saturday ahead of Zimbabwe’s third match against Pakistan.
“The International Cricket Council today announced that the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifier in Harare has been called off due to the introduction of travel restrictions from a number of African countries, including the hosts Zimbabwe, following the breakout of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa,” the statement read.
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“The decision was taken during the preliminary league phase of the nine-team tournament, that was to decide the final three qualifiers for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, to be played in New Zealand, as well as two additional teams for the next cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship.
“The qualifiers will now be decided according to the team rankings as detailed in the tournament playing conditions. Therefore, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies will now progress to the event in New Zealand.
“Play in two of the three matches scheduled for Saturday — Zimbabwe v Pakistan and USA v Thailand — started as scheduled, but the third fixture of the day, between the West Indies and Sri Lanka, could not be staged as a member of the Sri Lanka team support staff tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement added.
ICC head of events Chris Tetley said: “We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel the remainder of this event, but with travel restrictions from a number of African countries being imposed at such short notice there was a serious risk that teams would be unable to return home.
“We have explored a number of options to allow us to complete the event, but it isn’t feasible and we will fly the teams out of Zimbabwe as soon as possible. Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies will now qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 by virtue of their rankings, while Sri Lanka and Ireland will also join them in the next cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship.”
The teams, which have qualified for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, are Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand (hosts), Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh.
It was a disappointing end for Zimbabwe, who had notched up a win over the US following their defeat to Thailand in the first match.
- Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinmapasure