The International Cricket Council and England and Wales Cricket Board, who had submitted the initial bid, welcomed the decision to including women’s cricket as one of the events at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Women’s T20 cricket is set to be part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as the CGF on Thursday nominated its inclusion in the 2022 edition.
The nomination was made at the Executive Board meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation in Birmingham. The bid was submitted in November by the ICC, in partnership with the ECB.
Cricket has made just one appearance at the CWG previously, with men playing in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, an event where South Africa stood on top of the podium.
“The application for inclusion of women’s cricket for Birmingham 2022 is part of the global ambition for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world and to drive greater levels of inclusivity and opportunity throughout the sport,” an ICC statement said.
The decision, however, will need to be ratified by CGF members. “We are absolutely delighted that women’s cricket has been nominated for inclusion in Birmingham 2022. I’d like to thank everyone at the CGF and Birmingham 2022 for the nomination and it would be a real honour to become part of the Commonwealth Games family,” ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney was quoted as saying.
Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer, added: “It would present us with a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the global reach of these Games to showcase the very best of women’s cricket and in doing so inspire a new generation of women and girls from around the world to start playing the game.”