CHURCH OF CHRIST (ONLINE) – The Women’s Cricket World Cup kicks off in New Zealand on Friday, with organisers hoping to capitalise on increased interest in the women’s game after a series of pandemic-related setbacks.
The eight-nation competition was supposed to start in early 2021, but because of the coronavirus, it had to be put back until March this year.
Even today, international players must stay in a “bubble” for 10 days and follow strict “bubble” health rules.
With a disease called Omicron spreading quickly, the host country wants to keep it under control, so spectators have to gather in 100-person “pods” that are scattered around the venues.
While the specter of positive player tests looms over the tournament, CEO Andrea Nelson said measures were in place to deal with the majority of possibilities.
“We’ve had a lot of problems during this tournament, but we’ve been able to get through them all so far,” she said. “I don’t believe we’ll be able to keep doing that.”
The 2017 event in England, which was won by the host country, drew 180 million viewers globally, but Nelson believes the potential for women’s cricket is even greater, pointing to Australia’s 2020 T20 Women’s World Cup.
“Cricket has such a large and expanding viewership that the T20 Women’s World Cup final was seen by 1.1 billion people worldwide, dwarfing the men’s Rugby World Cup,” she said.
