Proteas Women one of eight cricket nations to feature in 2022 Commonwealth Games

The South African women's cricket team is one of eight nations confirmed for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Proteas Women will join Sri Lanka, Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand and Pakistan in the first major sports event in history to award more medals to women than men.

The announcement was made jointly on Tuesday by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) following Sri Lanka's victory in the ICC Commonwealth Games qualifier in Kuala Lumpur last week.

South Africa, Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand and Pakistan had already qualified.

It will only be the second time that cricket features in the multi-discipline event after a men's competition was part of the Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 when South Africa, captained by Shaun Pollock, won gold in beating Steve Waugh's Australia by four wickets in the final.

ICC Hall of Famers Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India) and Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) were among the stars who featured in the 1998 event.

The 2022 tournament kicks off with a match between 2020 Women's T20 World Cup finalists Australia and India on 29 July, with the bronze and gold medal matches scheduled for 7 August.

Full fixture list

Barbados and Pakistan are in Group A along with Australia and India while England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka form Group B.

"We will have eight of the best teams competing for the gold and I am sure we will get to watch a highly competitive tournament," ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said in a statement.

He added that the Commonwealth Games will be an important part of the women's cricket calendar over the next year.

"It is a huge opportunity for us to take cricket beyond the