DUBAI, November 26, 2018 (ICC) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed it has submitted a bid for the inclusion of T20 women\u2019s cricket into the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022.<\/p>\n
The bid, which has been made in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will see one of the world\u2019s fastest growing women\u2019s team sports apply to become part of the Commonwealth Games family.<\/p>\n
Cricket has made just one appearance at the Games previously, with men playing in 1998 in Kuala Lumpa where South Africa stood on top of the podium. The application for inclusion of women\u2019s cricket for Birmingham 2022 is part of the global strategy for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world and to drive greater levels of inclusivity and opportunity throughout the sport.<\/p>\n
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: \u201cCricket and the Commonwealth are inextricably linked and almost perfectly aligned with 910 million of cricket\u2019s one billion plus adult fans from Commonwealth countries. Creating a new partnership between women\u2019s cricket and the Commonwealth Games demonstrates the commitment both organisations have to growing women\u2019s sport and delivering greater equality, fairness and opportunity in sport across the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cBirmingham is the perfect place to launch this partnership as the city shares cricket\u2019s rich and diverse culture and heritage. 23 per cent of the city\u2019s residents have links to cricket playing nations outside the UK, the deep connection between cricket and Birmingham will bring people together and inspire future generations of players and fans of women\u2019s cricket. If cricket were to be staged in these Games, we know every team competing would be guaranteed \u2018home\u2019 support. There\u2019s a ready-made audience and ready-made infrastructure in the local vicinity. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis partnership has the potential to go way beyond a sporting event that can be enjoyed by hundreds of millions of fans in Birmingham, the UK and the rest of the world. I believe the players who reflect the diversity of this audience will send a powerful message to young women in Birmingham and beyond about the potential that they can achieve through sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like cricket to lead the way in the Commonwealth in inspiring more young girls to take up sport regardless of their background or culture. There\u2019s a saying that \u2018you can\u2019t be it if you can\u2019t see it\u2019 – imagine the impact of millions of young girls around the world watching women\u2019s cricket in the Commonwealth Games and being empowered with the knowledge that they too can play cricket, represent their country and compete on a global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation proposes an eight team T20 event played in two pools of four teams and totaling 16 matches in eight days held at two venues.<\/p>\n
The ICC has the unanimous backing of its Members and Board of Directors to pursue the inclusion of women\u2019s cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. There has been full commitment from all Members to celebrate the inextricable link between cricket and the Commonwealth and to delivering a world class cricket event at Birmingham 2022 that grows the relevance and reach of both cricket and the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n
An ICC and ECB delegation will present its bid for the inclusion of women\u2019s cricket in the Birmingham 2022 sporting programme to an assessment panel early next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI, November 26, 2018 (ICC) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed it has submitted a bid for the inclusion of T20 women\u2019s cricket into the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022. The bid, which has been made in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will see one of the world\u2019s fastest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n