| Dates | 21 November – 5 December 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | List A, One Day International |
| Host(s) |  Zimbabwe |
| Participants | 9 |
| Matches | 25 |
The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Zimbabwe in November and December 2021. [1] The tournament was the final part of the qualification process for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup. [2] All of the regional qualification tournaments used the Women's Twenty20 International format. [3] The tournament was the fifth edition of the World Cup Qualifier, with the fixtures played as 50 overs matches. [4] Originally, the top three teams from the qualifier would have progressed to the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. [5] The top three teams, along with the next two best placed teams, also qualified for the next cycle of the ICC Women's Championship. [6]
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Originally, the qualifier was scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka from 3 to 19 July 2020. [7] [8] [9] [10] In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that they were reviewing the scheduling of the tournament. [7] [11] On 12 May 2020, the ICC confirmed that the tournament had been postponed. [12] [13] In December 2020, the ICC confirmed that the qualifier would be played during June and July 2021. [14] In April 2021, the ICC postponed the tournament to November and December 2021. [15] In August 2021, the ICC confirmed the dates for the tournament, and that it would be played in Zimbabwe. [16] The full schedule for the tournament was announced in November 2021. [17] The ten teams were placed into two groups of five, [18] with the top three teams from each group advancing to the Super Six stage of the tournament. [19]
On 8 November 2021, Papua New Guinea announced that they had been forced to withdraw due to several players recording positive tests for COVID-19. [20] [21] On 10 November, the ICC confirmed that there would be no replacement team for Papua New Guinea, [22] with Group A reduced to four teams. [23] In late November 2021, a new variant of the COVID-19 virus was discovered in southern Africa, [24] with Cricket Ireland issued a statement saying they were monitoring the situation. [25] Prior to the discovery of the new variant, three members of the Sri Lankan team had tested positive for COVID-19. [26] Their scheduled match against the West Indies, due to take place on 27 November 2021, was cancelled after seven members of the Sri Lankan team tested positive. [27]
Later the same day, the ICC announced that the qualifier tournament had been called off, due to concerns of the new COVID variant and travel restrictions. [28] Per the ICC's playing conditions, the qualification slots were based on the team's ODI rankings, therefore Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies progressed to the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, with Sri Lanka and Ireland qualifying for the next ICC Women's Championship. [29] This decision meant that the other teams at the tournament were ineligible for World Cup or Women's Championship qualification, as the ICC only grants ODI status to full members, and as such they are not included in the ODI rankings. The decision was seen as controversial, given that at the point the tournament was abandoned, Thailand, an Associate team, had been leading their group and were already guaranteed a spot in the Super Six stage with two points carried forward, but were not allowed to qualify for the World Cup or even the Women's Championship, a circumstance that at least one online cricket publication described as cruel. [30] [31] [32] As a result, Thailand became the first team since the creation of the qualifiers in 2003 to win at least 3 of their first 4 matches without ultimately qualifying for the World Cup, as well as the second team since ODI status began to be offered in 2011 to win at least 3 matches without ultimately gaining ODI status (after the Netherlands won 3 out of 7 matches in 2011).[ citation needed ]
