ICC submits bid for inclusion of Women's T20 cricket in 2022 Commonwealth Games

The International Cricket Council on Monday submitted a formal bid to include women's T20 cricket into the roster of the Commonwealth Games 2022 which will be held in Birmingham.

According to ICC, "The bid has been made in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will see one of the world's fastest growing women's team sports apply to become part of the Commonwealth Games family.''

Cricket had earlier made its debut at the Commonwealth Games back in 1998. However, the matches during that edition were played in the 50-over format and were given List A status. The South African men's team stood on top of the podium, while Australia and New Zealand finished second and third respectively.

"The application for inclusion of women's cricket for Birmingham 2022 is part of the global strategy for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world and to drive greater levels of inclusivity and opportunity throughout the sport," ICC said in the statement.

The ICC CEO David Richardson said that both the sport and Commonwealth had one common goal which was perfectly aligned with 910 million of cricket’s one billion plus adult fans from Commonwealth countries

"Creating a new partnership between women's cricket and the Commonwealth Games demonstrates the commitment both organisations have to growing women's sport and delivering greater equality, fairness and opportunity in sport across the Commonwealth," Richardson added.

READ: ICC Announces New Name For T20 World Cup

Earlier on Friday, the cricket world governing body announced that it had renamed the ICC World T20 as the ICC T20 World Cup. It further stated that the changes would come into effect for the men's and women's editions which will be held in Australia in 2020.

The cricket world governing body said that the decision of renaming the championship was made in the interest of enhancing the format so that it reaches the public and increases its popularity like its other formats.

Furthermore, ICC's decision to rename the tournament was backed by several prominent figures in the cricketing fraternity. The most prominent to come to the forefront were South Africa's Faf du Plessis, India's men and women skipper Virat Kohli and Harmanpreet Kaur, who welcomed the change.

(ICC inputs)