The ICC Women’s World Cup was originally scheduled in 2021, but the global pandemic pushed it back by a year. However, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant and the very strict quarantine rules in New Zealand, the World Cup is set to get underway from March 4. Here are a few things we can expect – or not – from the 12th edition of the oldest limited-overs international cricket tournament.
More runs
Since the global lockdown of 2020, the global ODI scoring rate has remained virtually the same compared to the two years before it (the 50-over score has come down from 212 to 210).
The average score in New Zealand, however, used to be 223 in the previous period. That has increase by almost 10 percent, despite it taking a small hit. Expect high-scoring matches.
Surreal COVID-19 rules
On 24 February, the ICC announced a set of special rules for the World Cup to counter the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad. In an extreme case, a team can now field nine members along with two female members of the support staff. One can only hope this does not need to be implemented.
While logical, the idea to counter COVID-19 perhaps occurred to ICC too late, given the outbreaks during the Under-19 World Cup. A timely decision to expand the squad size to 20 or more could have prevented potential farcical XIs. Given the strict quarantine rules in New Zealand, 24 February was perhaps too late for that.
The debutant tigers
That Bangladesh would break through to the top eight was on the cards when they won the 2018 Women’s Asia Cup. In the final, they beat India – the only other team to have won the Asia Cup till date. The celebrations of the Bangladesh Men’s team, who watched the game together, touched hearts.
Less than four years later, Bangladesh will play their first World Cup, riding on a streak of five consecutive ODI wins. Given the lack of international matches, it may also be pertinent to mention that they have won nine of their last T20Is as well.
The Australian threat
It took a once-in-a-lifetime innings from Harmanpreet Kaur in the semi-final of the 2017 World Cup to knock Australia out of the World Cup. This, after them having beaten India easily in the league stage.
Since that World Cup, the Australians have won 31 matches and lost two. Their win-loss ratio reads 15.5, which is more than five times that of any other side. The difference is almost funny. This includes a world record unbeaten streak of 26 matches. India did end that streak, but not before the Australians put up a fight, that too in a dead rubber match.
And then, there is that incredible statistic of Australia having won the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth World Cups. It will not be surprise if they also win the twelfth.
South Africa: dark horses?
After making to the top four in 2000, South Africa had never quite been a threat until 2017. There, they ended India’s unbeaten run and made it to the top four, only to lose to England in a thriller. Since then, they have won 28 matches and lost 10, and their win-loss ratio (2.8) is better than anyone barring Australia’s ridiculous 15.5.
In Twenty20 – always relevant due to the sparseness of international cricket – South Africa lost a close semi-final in the T20 World Cup as well. Several of their cricketers have impressed in the WBBL and The Hundred. The Oval Invincibles XI that won final of the inaugural edition of Hundred was led by Dane van Niekerk and featured Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail.
Even in van Niekerk’s unfortunate absence, South Africa have enough firepower to make it to the top four, perhaps even win a couple of matches beyond that.
Female officials
Four of the 13 umpires at the 2017 Women’s World Cup were women. Even this low count was a record at that point. In 2022, the panel of 12 will consist of six women – Lauren Agenbag, Kim Cotton, Claire Polosak, Sue Redfern, Eloise Sheridan, and Jacqueline Williams.
For the first time in the history of the tournament, there will be female match referees as well: GS Lakshmi and Shandre Fritz will join Gary Baxter. A 100 percent female representation in the next edition will not be too optimistic.
What not to expect: Sri Lanka and Thailand
In the 2013 World Cup, Sri Lanka beat defending champions England and hosts India and finished fifth. Despite an ordinary show in 2017, they were expected to feature in 2022.
But they did not play ODIs between October 2019 and the World Cup Qualifiers last November. There, they beat Netherlands in their only match before the tournament had to be called off due to Covid-19. West Indies, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – the three teams with the highest rankings before the Qualifiers – went through. Sri Lanka did not qualify because their board did not organise any cricket to help their rankings.
In the same Qualifiers, Thailand won three of their four matches (including against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh). Then, not being a Full Member (and hence, not having a rank) deprived them of a berth.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketNews and co-author of Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town)
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