Women's World Cup Postponed Due To Lack Of Preparation Time: CEO Andrea Nelson

The inability to train and concerns over player preparations were the major reasons behind the ICC postponing the Women’s 50-over World Cup and it had nothing to do with the Covid-19 situation in the country, the event’s CEO Andrea Nelson has said.

The Women’s 50-over World Cup was originally scheduled to take place in February-March next year but the ICC board decided to postpone the tournament by 12 months.

“”It came down to the ability of the teams to qualify,” Nelson told a local media group ‘NZME’

Another major reason for postponing the tournament is that the qualifiers are yet to be played for the marquee event. The qualifiers were set to take place in July but had to be postponed due to covid. Hosts New Zealand, world champions England, former champions Australia, India, and South Africa have already qualified while three spots still remain up for grabs.

“We’ve done a lot of contingency planning around this event, to give it the best possible chance of proceeding successfully – ultimately the decision to delay it comes down to cricket. No qualifying tournaments have been able to be held yet, so in order to qualify and then compete in the event in 2021 – it was too risky,” Nelson said.

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Postponing the World Cup to 2022 will give best possible chance for teams to prepare: Andrea Nelson

Following the decision by the ICC Board, players like Alyssa Healy, Heather Knight have criticized the delay but Nelson feels that it will give all the teams- and especially those who aren’t able to train currently- the best possible chance to prepare themselves for the pinnacle event.

“We’ve got teams that can’t train, they can’t assemble – in the case of a country like the West Indies they can’t leave their islands to bring the team together – and that’s just not a feasible way to ask a team to prepare for their pinnacle event. Having the tournament in 2022 gives the best possible chance for teams around the world to train, prepare, and come and compete in their pinnacle event. We have absolutely no doubt we’ll be able to pick up those plans and deliver an amazing event a year later.” she added.

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