Sri Lanka’s women’s WC dream shattered
Sri Lanka women’s cricket team is officially out of next year’s ICC World Cup after Women’s World Cup qualifiers, being played in Zimbabwe, was called off yesterday owing to the introduction of travel restrictions from a number of countires, including the hosts Zimbabwe, and the breakout of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa.
The cancellation of the qualifiers means top eight teams in the ranking along with hosts New Zealand will feature in the 2022 edition to be held from from March 4 to April 3. The teams are Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand (hosts), Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh.
With the number of teams increased to 10 for the next edition in 2023, Sri Lanka has managed to slot in along with Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and Ireland.
Sri Lanka women’s were due to play West Indies yesterday but the match was canceled after a member of the Sri Lanka team support staff tested positive for the virus.
This increases the number of Covid positive cases to seven in the Sri Lanka camp with six players also returning positive for tests earlier.
Despite the cancellation of the Sri Lanka vs West Indies game, the two other games scheduled to be played from Group ‘B’ — Thailand vs USA and Pakistan vs Zimbabwe — were played uninterrupted in the same city.
However, at the time of innings break of the two games in progress, the International Cricket Council (ICC) made an abrupt announcement that it had called off the Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 in Harare.
“The tournament has been called off due to the introduction of travel restrictions from a number of African countries, including the host country Zimbabwe, following the breakout of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa,” ICC announced.
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 held in New Zealand, whilst Sri Lanka and Ireland will also join them in 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,” ICC explained in its official statement.
“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,” ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said.
Though none of the local cricket officials were initially aware of the clear reasons behind the cancellation of the Sri Lanka women’s game against the West Indies, it was clearly understood that the COVID-19 pandemic, and the new variant emerged from the south African region, had a strong influence.
Sri Lanka Cricket CEO, Ashley de Silva when contacted by the Sunday Times soon after the game was called off, said that he was unaware of the game being called off and that it was news for him.
Sri Lanka government yesterday, stated that Colombo will bar travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe, where the national women’s team is currently in. This announcement came minutes prior to commencement of the women’s game between Sri Lanka and West Indies, which never took place eventually.
Sri Lanka won the only game played against Netherlands by 34 runs on Duckworth/Lewis method, and were to play West Indies and Ireland in their remainders of the group matches.