Fate of the ICC Women's World Cup 2021 likely in board meeting

A decision on 2021 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand could be made during the International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting on Friday (August 7).

"The main agenda of the meeting is scheduling of ICC tournaments including the women's ODI World Cup in New Zealand early next year. It is expected that some decisions will be taken," an ICC Board member was quoted as saying by PTI.

Although the ICC has postponed the Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia due to the restrictions that are in place due to COVID-19 pandemic, it went ahead with the planning of the eight-team women’s global event as scheduled for February and March next year.

According to a report in BBC Sports, the tournament could be played behind the closed doors in a bio-secure environment. It was reported that organisers of the event have advertised for a ‘bio-security’ manager in hope of conducting the tournament with all the bio-secure protocols in place.

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On May 12, the ICC postponed the World Cup Qualifier that was scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka in July. Five teams, including the hosts New Zealand, have qualified for the event. Three more sides will join them at the global event once the qualifying tournament is completed.

The ICC is confident of going ahead with the tournament with the progress New Zealand made in dealing with the global pandemic. According to a report on ESPN Cricinfo, the ICC will conduct the qualifying tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November once a decision on the main event is made.

"Yes, the qualification tournament is yet to be finished and since every country's COVID situation is different, that is one headache that the ICC has. Going by health safety issues, New Zealand is one of the best performing nations globally," ICC Board member added.

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