Women's Cricket World Cup: Will it be Australia's Cup again?

Australia in the T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It raised hopes of a brighter future, more competition and better structure for women’s cricket. But it also marked the onset of the pandemic. And understandably, the interest generated in Melbourne faded. Come Friday, the focus will again be on women’s cricket when the ICC 50-over World Cup gets under way in New Zealand. The eight-nation tournament, originally scheduled from February 6 to March 7, 2021, was pushed back by a year due to the pandemic.

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India women's cricket team will open its campaign in the rescheduled Women's ODI World Cup against Pakistan on March 6, 2022 at Tauranga's Bay Oval in New Zealand. Among the marquee games, Tauranga will host the rematch of the 2017 Women's World Cup final at Lord's with India taking on England on

The showpiece event will be held in a stringent bio-bubble with overseas players having to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine. Thankfully, the competition will not be held behind closed doors. Spectators will be in ‘pods’ of 100 dotted around venues. Tournament chief executive Andrea Nelson is confident the organisers can pull off the event without glitches. “We’ve had to deal with challenges the whole way through on this event, and we’ve overcome them all so far, so I have no doubt we’ll continue to do so,” she stated.

Nelson’s reassurance notwithstanding, there is a Covid cloud over the tournament. But on the field there is excitement. In 11 editions since its inception in 1973, only three nations – Australia, New Zealand and England — have claimed the silverware. Australia lead the roll of honour by virtue of being