England women's team captain Heather Knight has expressed her disappointment at the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to postpone the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup from 2021 to 2022.
The Women’s ODI World Cup 2021 was scheduled to take place between February 6 and March 7 in New Zealand this year, but the ICC decided to delay the quadrennial event by next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation across the world.
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However, the global governing council's decision was not welcomed by Heather Knight, captain of the current World Cup champions, saying she is “pretty gutted” by the postponement of the global event in New Zealand.
The ace cricketer believes that the now-postponed Women’s World Cup 2021 was feasible in New Zealand since the country has brilliantly dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and even there has been no Coronavirus cases recorded in the last 100 days in the country.
However, Knight understands the ICC’s tough decision but expressed hope that the cricket boards will not use it as an excuse to put women’s cricket on the back burner due to the pandemic.
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She wrote on Twitter: “Pretty gutted, to be honest. I know tough decisions have to be made right now & it would have taken a lot of work (and $$), but it was feasible in NZ. Hopefully, it’s not an excuse for boards to put women’s cricket on the back burner for the next 12 months with no WC to prepare for.”
Noteworthy, India, England, Australia, South Africa and hosts New Zealand had already qualified for the Women’s World Cup 2021 while the remaining three slots will be decided after a qualifying tournament.
