The qualifying event for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup taking place in Zimbabwe has been abandoned due to the emergence of the new variant of coronavirus in South Africa.
Ireland had been playing in the event in the hope of securing one of the final three places for next year’s showpiece in New Zealand but will now miss out, with Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies joining the hosts, Australia, England, South Africa and India by virtue of their place in the ODI rankings.
Ireland will be handed one of two remaining places in the next cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship along with Sri Lanka.
Both South Africa and Zimbabwe have been added to the Irish Government’s list of countries from which travellers will have to quarantine for 10 days at home.
ICC head of events Chris Tetley said: “We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel the remainder of this event but with travel restrictions from a number of African countries being imposed at such short notice, there was a serious risk that teams would be unable to return home.”
Cricket Ireland high performance director Richard Holdsworth said: “We are disappointed for all the players and teams who are in Zimbabwe at the moment, but from a health and safety perspective this is the correct decision. We will now concentrate on working with the ICC in getting our squad home as soon as practicable.
“While it’s never the manner in which you hope to qualify for a competition, it is a big result for Ed Joyce and his squad to be part of the 2022-2025 Women’s Championship. It’s not an understatement to say it should see a fundamental change in women’s cricket in Ireland.”
