The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that there would be a qualifying round to determine the final two teams that would join England, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Cricket was also the first sport to declare the qualifying teams for the mega event. The six aforementioned teams secured their respective places based on the ICC Women’s Twenty20 Team ranking as of April 1, 2021.

The qualification process will determine which country from the Caribbean will participate in the event as players will be representing their countries and not the West Indies as they would at ICC events. The other team will be decided through a qualifying round which will be held by January 31, 2022.

Geoff Allardice, ICC Acting Chief Executive, said: “We are incredibly proud and excited to be part of Birmingham 2022 and it is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to grow the women’s game globally. We are committed to maintaining the momentum that saw 86,174 fans packed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup last year and Birmingham 2022 gives us another global stage on which to showcase the women’s game. On behalf of the ICC and its Members, I thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for their support and look forward to seeing some superb cricket at Edgbaston.”

The inclusion of women’s cricket in the Commonwealth Games was announced in August 2019. The sport returned to the mega event for the first time since the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, where South Africa beat Australia in the 50-over format. This will be the first time women’s cricket will be a part of the Commonwealth Games.

The cricket fixtures for the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held at Edgbaston.