Heather Knight looks forward to playing ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 on home soil by International Cricket Council

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Player:	HC Knight
Event:	ICC Women's Championship 2014 to 2016/17
Other links:	Table

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DateLine: 25th November 2016

 

England captain Heather Knight has praised the ICC Women’s Championship for providing exposure to teams and feels it will help develop the game worldwide.

 

England finished second in the eight-team tournament with 29 points from its 21 matches. Australia won the championship with 36 points and was awarded the trophy on 23 November after its last match against South Africa.

 

England captain Heather Knight:

 

“The ICC Women’s Championship has gone really well – it has been a great addition by the ICC. To get the opportunity to play a competitive series, with proper context, against seven different nations in a two-year window has been brilliant. It will undoubtedly contribute to the development of the global women’s game, especially for the likes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who previously wouldn’t have got the chance to play as regularly as they do now through this championship.

 

“Every international game of cricket that you play for your country is of course important, but to have the additional aspect of qualification points for the ICC Women’s World Cup being up for grabs, and an overall competition table, has given the ICC Women’s Championship matches an extra edge over the last couple of years.

 

“We are evolving all the time, and the last six months in particular have been a really exciting time for us, and certainly for me, taking on the captaincy. Qualifying for the ICC Women’s World Cup (to be played) on home soil was a very proud moment for us.

 

“We’ve had a really busy year, so we will have a little bit of time away now, with a few of the girls heading off to play in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia. After that we will look to head overseas for a warm weather training camp ahead of the start of the English season, and from then it will all be about making sure we are ready for the World Cup starting at the end of June. We really do have the best fans and best supporters of women’s cricket in the world, so we are all hugely excited to play in front of them on home soil next summer.”

 

About ICC women’s tournaments:

 

The inaugural ICC Women’s Championship ran from 2014-16 in which eight top teams played against each other in three-match series, giving them 21 ODI matches each. The top four were assured of automatic qualification to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 to be held in England and Wales from June 26 to July 23.

 

World champion Australia was a comfortable winner of the tournament that ended on November 23. Australia finished with 36 points on the points table with England (29), New Zealand (26) and the West Indies (22) the other teams to qualify directly.

 

The four bottom-placed teams of the ICC Women’s Championship – India, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will get another chance to make it to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 as they will compete with six other teams in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 7 to 21 February.

 

Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Thailand will be the other teams playing in the Qualifier, with the top four teams advancing to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2016 International Cricket Council)