West Indies Women will be coming home from the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
This followed the decision of the International Cricket Council, the sport’s world governing body and organisers of the Qualifier, to cancel the remainder of the tournament on Saturday.
The cancellation was due to the introduction of travel restrictions from seven countries in the southern Africa region, including Zimbabwe, following the discovery of a new variant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in that part of the world.
The Windies Women’s squad include seven Barbadian players, as well as manager Sheena Gooding, bowling coach Corey Collymore, and performance analyst Gary Belle.
“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,” ICC head of events, Chris Tetley said.
“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 West Indies will now qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 New Zealand by virtue of their rankings, while Sri Lanka and Ireland will also join them in the next cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship.”
West Indies Women were scheduled to play their second match of the Qualifier against Sri Lanka on Saturday at the Harare Sports Club in the Zimbabwe capital, but the match did not start, an ICC media release stated, because a member of the opposing side’s support staff tested positive for COVID-19.
(AR)