ICC and ECB welcome CGF decision to nominate women's cricket for Commonwealth Games inclusion

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Thursday welcomed the Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) decision to nominate women’s cricket for inclusion at 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Earlier, the ICC, in partnership with the ECB, had urged the CGF to inclusion women’s cricket in the Commonwealth Games sport programme.

“We are absolutely delighted that women’s cricket has been nominated for inclusion in Birmingham 2022. I’d like to thank everyone at the CGF and Birmingham 2022 for the nomination and it would be a real honour to become part of the Commonwealth Games family. We are committed to accelerating the growth of the women’s game and breaking down barriers and gender stereotypes along the way. We share our ambition to deliver greater equality, fairness and opportunity in sport with the Commonwealth Games Federation," ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney was quoted as saying in a ICC press release. Sawhney added that 2022 Commonwealth Games will provide a springboard for women’s cricket and will inspire young girls across the world to play the game of cricket.

Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer, added: “The inclusion of women’s cricket in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games would be a landmark moment in the development of the sport. It would present us with a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the global reach of these Games to showcase the very best of women’s cricket and in doing so inspire a new generation of women and girls from around the world to start playing the game.   We are extremely grateful to the teams at Birmingham 2022 and CGF for providing us with this opportunity and for sharing our vision for the future of women’s cricket.”