World Cup Qualifier postponement understandable but new preparation programme needed says Joyce
The Head Coach of the Ireland Women’s cricket team, Ed Joyce expressed his understanding about the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision to postpone the Women’s World Cup Qualifier, but hopes that enough lead-in time will be available with new dates to allow for his side to prepare for this important tournament.
Ed Joyce, Head Coach for Ireland Women, said: Naturally we are disappointed to see this important qualifying tournament postponed, but it is an understandable situation given the circumstances. The chance to qualify for a world cup is always a big moment in a player’s career, and I know, before lockdown, the performance squad were well positioned, some in Ireland and others playing club cricket during the Irish winter in Australia. We had a lead-in programme in place for the Qualifier before the pandemic hit, but like everyone else, we’ve had to adapt quickly to lockdown conditions. We have continued fitness programmes and held numerous team learning sessions via video-conferencing over the last two months, but despite the opportunities that these sessions offer, there is no substitute to getting out and playing, so we’re all eager to get out and play when conditions permit. The fixture schedule ahead is certainly going to be a busy one for all cricket nations given the postponements, and we’ll need to develop a preparation programme in the lead up to the tournament, so we hope the ICC can give ample notification of the new dates. It is a challenging time for everyone, but we have a resilient young squad and I know they’ll be dedicated to the task once we’re back underway.
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka between 3 and 19 July. The Ireland Women’s team had previously seen a tour to Thailand in April cancelled, and had their Qualifier lead-up programme put on hold at the outset of the pandemic.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has postponed two qualifying events due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday (May 12). The Qualifier was due to take place in Sri Lanka between 3 and 19 July. The Europe qualifier which marks the start of the qualification pathway to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 has also been postponed. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the postponement of two further qualifying events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Europe Division 2.
As part of the ICC’s comprehensive contingency planning process and after consultation with Members and with the relevant government and public health authorities, the decision has been taken to postpone the qualifier to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 and the start of the qualification pathway to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022. The priority throughout this difficult period is to protect the well-being of players, coaches, officials, fans and the whole cricket community and take a safety-first approach to all operations and decision making over the coming months.
