People are wondering why the Barbados women team is playing T20 cricket instead of the West Indies women’s in the Commonwealth Games 2022 despite having a better ICC ranking
Fans were indeed riveted to their televisions for the next 11 days as the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 started today (29 July 2022). As cricket returns to the CWG this year after a 24-year absence, supporters have more reasons to celebrate this year.
Why Is Barbados Women Team Playing Cricket In The Commonwealth Games 2022 Instead Of West Indies Team
While Machel does a live watch along on our YouTube channel for the West Indies T20, il be looking at the Women's action as Barbados take on Pakistan pic.twitter.com/C5JSbqlxh7
— Caribbean Cricket Podcast (@CaribCricket) July 29, 2022
The 1998 CWG in Kuala Lumpur included men’s cricket, and South Africa won the Gold after defeating Australia in the finals. The best part of this year’s edition because which fans are thrilled is that women’s cricket is being played in a multi-sport competition for the first time.
However, one topic that was frequently brought up on social media was the absence of the West Indies from the competition. People frequently wondered why the Barbados team was competing instead of the West Indies team.
But before finding out the reason behind why it happened, first, let’s take a glance at some of the important details of the women’s cricket game in CWG 2022 this year:
More About Women’s cricket in CWG 2022
Only the T20I format will be used during the 2022 CWG competition, and eight national sides have qualified. The first match, between Australia and India, was being played on July 29 at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, where all of the games will be played.
Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan also qualified for the competition based on their ICC T20I rankings, however, England automatically qualified because they are the hosts.
Sri Lanka won the qualifying round by defeating Bangladesh in the finals in January of this year, expanding the competition to seven teams.
But Barbados women’s teams have gained a lot of attention. So, let’s find out how they took part in CWG 2022.
How Did Barbados Women’s Team Compete In CWG 2022 Instead Of The West Indies?
The West Indies Women’s team placed in the top six in the ICC T20I Women’s table and therefore automatically qualified, however, they are not competing in the CWG competition in 2022.
Six Caribbean countries are represented in the Commonwealth Games Association, which hosts the tournament for the Commonwealth countries. Since the CWG is a multi-sport event and all Caribbean countries act as a single entity, West Indies cannot participate without other countries’ consent.
In order to choose the qualification squad from among six countries—Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and two additional teams from the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands—a regional T20 competition was set for 2020 and 2021.
However, the competition was postponed on both occasions because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Barbados women’s team, who had won T20 Blaze in the previous edition, was named the qualifying team for the 2022 CWG.
Hayley Matthews, a star all-rounder for the West Indies, and Deandra Dottin will captain Barbados women’s team against Pakistan Women on Friday, July 29.
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