The women's T20 cricket competition at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games will take place at Edgbaston from July 29 to August 7, the organizers announced on Tuesday. The eight-team group stage matches will continue till August 4, with the semi-finals on August 6. The playoffs for the final as well as the third place (bronze medal) will take place on 7 August.
"With 11 days of swimming and diving, 8 days of cricket, 8 days of gymnastics and 7 days of athletics including marathon, the summer of 2022 is set for a spectacular home games," the official website said. "The Birmingham 2022 competition program features more medal events for women than men for the first time in Commonwealth Games history, as well as a fully integrated para-sport programme."
This would be only the second time that cricket would be included in the Commonwealth Games, but it is an introduction to the T20 format along with the women's game, the men's 50-over competition in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 was part of the schedule.
Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, host England and a country from the Caribbean have qualified for the event. Apart from England, the other qualifying nations were determined on the basis of T20I rankings as on April 1, 2021.
Athletes from the Caribbean represent their individual countries at the Games and a qualifying tournament for those countries will decide which team replaces the West Indies.
Eighth place in the tournament will be allotted to the winners of the qualifying event to be held by January 31, 2022.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will feature 4,500 athletes from 72 countries and territories, are scheduled to run from July 28 to August 8 next year.