What to expect from the Women’s Cricket World Cup

After a 12 month delay the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand is finally going ahead from 4 March to 3 April.

Stumps designed for the 2022 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport

Covid-19 complications stalled the tournament and messed with the qualification process but organisers will be hoping all of that is behind them now.

Get the rundown on the 50-over competition below.

Who is contesting the cup and how did they qualify?

Eight teams – New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies – are playing in the 12th edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

For the first seven editions, the tournament was invite-only with the first qualifying event taking place in 2003 ahead of the 2005 World Cup.

This time around the pandemic twice interrupted the qualifying tournament and the emergence of Omicron during the qualifiers in Zimbabwe in November forced the ICC to use world rankings to decide which teams would play in the showpiece event in New Zealand.

The White Ferns automatically qualified as the hosts and they will be wanting to replicate New Zealand’s success in winning the title the last time the world cup was held in New Zealand in 2000.

England won the last world cup.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

England are the defending champions, having won the 2017 tournament on home soil.

Australia are the most successful side in this format claiming six of the previous 11 world cups, including three in a row between 1978 and 1988.

India and the West Indies are the only other teams to have featured in a final.

Bangladesh have qualified for the first time, making them the first new team to play in the world cup in 25 years.

South Africa are number two in the world rankings but have only ever made it to the semi-final stage of the competition.

Pakistan are the lowest ranked side and have not progressed beyond the Super 6 stage.

Where are the matches being played and are crowds allowed in?

Six venues across New Zealand are being used for the 31 games to be played across 31 days.

The tournament opener will be played at Bay Oval in Mt Maunganui, Christchurch’s Hagley Oval will host a total of five matches including a semi-final and the final.

Hagley Oval
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

University Oval in Dunedin has three matches, which is a coup for veteran White Fern Suzie Bates who will play her first ODI in her home town.

Hamilton’s Seddon Park will host seven matches as will the Basin Reserve in Wellington where a semi-final will also be played.

Eden Park in Auckland has the tournament’s double header weekend on March 19 and 20.

Tournament organisers have said crowd numbers will be reduced under the New Zealand’s red light setting with crowd numbers limited to 10 per cent of each venue’s total capacity

For those who do make it into the stadium, all patrons must be fully vaccinated and present their Covid Vaccination Certificate.

Mask wearing while moving about in the stadium will be encouraged.

How will the winner be found?

Every team will play each other once in the round-robin group stage.

A win will earn a team two points, with a tie or no result worth one point.

The four sides with the most points will then advance to the semi-finals to decide the two finalists.

The final will be played under lights at Hagley Oval on 3 April.

If the final is a draw, there will be unlimited Super Overs until a winner is decided.

So, no repeat of the boundary-countback rule which allowed England to beat New Zealand in the 2019 men’s 50-over World Cup final.

Can the tournament continue if Covid hits the squads?

Yes, in a change to the rules the ICC will allow teams to field a side with only nine players if their squad is affected by Covid-19.

When asked, captains have been diplomatic about this possibility but all want the integrity of the competition to be upheld.

What is on the line?

Aside from the trophy, there is also record prize money on offer.

The winners will take home $1.32 million, double the amount awarded to the 2017 victors.

Just making the final is also lucrative with the runners-up pocketing $600,000 – an increase of $270,000 from when India finished runners-up to England last time.

The overall prize money pot has increased by 75 percent since the last tournament with the eight teams taking home a share in $3.5 million.

Back in 2013 there was a total of $200,000 prize money up for grabs.