Eight teams from four continents will compete in the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy, a new international competition, in Bangkok from November 20 to 30. The first edition will have participation from Thailand, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
“More than 500 million viewers in India” and “significant growth in viewership across countries” were recorded during the recent ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, which served as the impetus for the tournament, according to an ICC statement.
“Nearly 300,000 fans attended matches across India and Sri Lanka and the event concluded with India becoming the first Asian team to lift the Women’s Cricket World Cup, a watershed moment in the evolution of the sport and the socio-cultural context of gender roles,” a statement from the ICC stated. “The ICC keeps making investments to ensure women’s cricket has a sustainable future, building on the incredible boost the main event brought. A new three-tiered development pathway that provides emerging nations with high-performance exposure includes the Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy.
“It is the ICC and the Chair’s [Jay Shah] vision to sustainably expand cricket’s footprint across the world and grow the women’s game,” stated ICC chief executive Sanjog Gupta.
The goal of giving top athletes from developing countries more chances to compete at the highest level is to accelerate their growth and raise the quality of competition on their teams.
“It also drives the visibility of the sport in participant nations, serving as a driver of girls’ involvement in the sport and inspires women from other nations to stay committed to the development pathways.”
Thailand vs. Netherlands and Papua New Guinea vs. UAE will be played on the first day.
India
