Sports
Cricket announces its complete line-up for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022
Cricket is the first discipline to announce its complete line-up for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after Sri Lanka was confirmed as the eighth team in the women’s T20 tournament.
The announcement was made jointly by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Tuesday following Sri Lanka’s victory in the ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 in Kuala Lumpur last week and the subsequent CGF ratification of Sri Lanka’s entry.
Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan had already qualified as women’s cricket makes its first entry into the Commonwealth Games. It will only be the second time that cricket features in the multi-discipline event after a men’s competition was part of the Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and is considered a massive opportunity to bring the game to new audiences.
Shaun Pollock-led South Africa had won the gold on that occasion, beating Steve Waugh’s Australia side by four wickets in the final. ICC Hall of Famers Sachin Tendulkar of India, Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka were among the many stars part of the Games then.
The league-cum-knockout tournament this time kicks off with a match between ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 finalists Australia and India on 29 July, with the bronze and gold medal matches scheduled for 7 August. Barbados and Pakistan are in Group A along with Australia and India while England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka form Group B.
The ICC, CGF and Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka congratulated Sri Lanka for their qualification and looked forward to an exciting tournament.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “It’s good to have finalised the identity of the teams participating in the Commonwealth Games and congratulations to Sri Lanka for making it after playing so well in the qualifier. We will have eight of the best teams competing for the gold and I am sure we will get to watch a highly competitive tournament.
“The Commonwealth Games are an important part of the women’s cricket calendar over the next year. It is a huge opportunity for us to take cricket beyond the traditional strongholds and give more people around the world the chance to enjoy the game, whilst the players are very much looking forward to being part of multi-sport games.
“I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for their support and hope to see some top-quality cricket at Edgbaston.”
CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “Congratulations to the eight outstanding teams who have qualified for the women’s T20 cricket tournament at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I must pay particular tribute to Sri Lanka, who secured the eighth and final spot by winning such an exciting qualifying tournament in Malaysia last week.”
“They will head to the iconic Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham with an elite lineup featuring England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Barbados and New Zealand.
“Cricket is a sport synonymous with the Commonwealth. We are so excited to have it back in the Games for the first time since the men’s 50 over competition at Kuala Lumpur in 1998. The debut of women’s T20 cricket will be a historic moment and a wonderful showcase of women’s sport across the world.”
Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka Secretary General Maxwell de Silva said: “We are delighted to have qualified for the Commonwealth Games women’s T20 cricket tournament.
“Our team put on a fantastic display as they won all four matches at the qualification tournament to secure the final spot at Birmingham 2022.
“I would like to congratulate Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu and the entire team as they join a world-class lineup in Birmingham for what will be a special moment for cricket and the Commonwealth Games.”
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu said: “It’s a great feeling to have qualified for the Commonwealth Games and all of us are really excited to be part of the multi-sport extravaganza. I’m sure it’s going to be a different experience for all of us.
“We had a memorable Qualifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur and now look forward to doing well in Birmingham against the best.
“I would like to thank Sri Lanka Cricket, the ICC, Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka and the CGF for all their support.”
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, being held from 28 July to 8 August, will see 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories compete across the 11 spectacular days of sport. Birmingham 2022 will be the first major multi-sport event in history to award more medals to women than men.
North Korea has cancelled the Pyongyang marathon for unspecified reasons, a tour agency linked to the event has said.
British-owned Koryo Tours, which describes itself as the official partner of the marathon, said on Monday that it had received notice of the cancellation from North Korea’s athletics association.
A message it attributed to the association said the marathon was being cancelled “due to some reasons”.
The annual event was established in 1981 to celebrate the birth of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung. The 2026 race was set to take place on 5 April.
The message, purportedly from the North Korea athletics association’s general secretary, thanked “all the Elite Marathoners and Amateur Runners of the world who are interested in Pyongyang International Marathon”.
The message gave no further explanation on what the reasons for the cancellation were.
Koryo Tours said it understood the decision was final and had been taken “at a level above the organisers of the event itself”.
It said it would be seeking clarification on the circumstances surrounding the decision.
The tour company added that neither organisers nor event partners were involved in making the decision, and said it recognised “this announcement will be disappointing to many runners who had already registered or were planning to participate”.
Koryo Tours, based in Beijing, China, offers several marathon packages to foreigners, departing from Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang.
Packages start from €2,190 ($2,529; £1,894) for 2.5 nights in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, including a marathon place and “highlights” of the capital and tickets were sold out this year, according to the agency’s website.
It said all deposits paid will be returned and runners have the option to retain their deposit for a future event or North Korea tour.
A date for the 2027 marathon has not yet been set.
The event had only returned last year after it was suspended for five consecutive years due to the Covid pandemic.
It is open to both amateur and some professional athletes and offers several race distances – 5km (3.1 miles), 10km (6.2 miles), half marathon (21.1km; 13.1 miles) or full marathon (42.2km; 26.2 miles).
[BBC]
The white ball series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, scheduled to be held in the UAE from March 13 to 25, is likely to be postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing military conflict in West Asia.
While neither ACB nor SLC has issued an official statement, ESPNcricinfo has learned that both boards have agreed the series cannot take place in the UAE, keeping the ongoing crisis in mind. While both boards are still discussing alternatives, the bilateral series is unlikely to be shifted elsewhere due to logistical challenges.
The series comprising six white-ball matches was scheduled to start on March 13 starting with the three T20Is. The T20I leg was scheduled in Sharjah – on March 13, 15 and 17 – while the three ODIs were scheduled in Dubai on March 20, 22 and 25.
The series was set to be Afghanistan’s first under Ibrahim Zadran’s leadership, with the opener taking over the reins from Rashid Khan after a group-stage exit in the World Cup.
Last week, six matches of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 in Nepal involving Oman, UAE and the hosts were postponed because of the conflict.
The travel plans of several teams that were in India and Sri Lanka for the men’s T20 World Cup have also been disrupted owing to airspaces being closed or limited in West Asia.
Despite being knocked out over the last week, the contingents from West Indies and South Africa have been stuck in Kolkata, and received clarity only on Sunday, that they will be flying out on Tuesday.
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has officially announced the appointment of Gary Kirsten as the new head coach of the men’s national team. Kirsten, who comes with a hefty coaching pedigree, will take over the reins on April 15 on a two-year contract that runs until April 14 2028.
The former South Africa batter will take over a Sri Lankan side seeking stability and a blueprint for consistency in the modern game. While outgoing head coach Sanath Jayasuriya was undoubtedly a household name, Kirsten is without question the most blockbuster appointment to the position in Sri Lanka’s history.
He famously guided India to their 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup victory. And under his tenure, South Africa reached the top of the Test rankings. Most recently, he served as a consultant for Namibia during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
As a player, Kirsten was a stalwart for South Africa, amassing over 14,000 international runs and becoming the first from his country to reach 100 Test matches.
Kirsten hopes to join a long line of non-Sri Lankan coaches who have significantly influenced the nation’s cricketing history. This tradition includes Dav Whatmore, who orchestrated the historic 1996 World Cup win; Tom Moody and Trevor Bayliss, who led the team to World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011; and Chris Silverwood, the most recent foreign head coach before Sanath Jayasuriya took over as interim and then full-time coach in late 2024.
The appointment comes at a critical juncture following the team’s limp exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup, and marks a pointed departure from the post-2024 World Cup pivot towards coaches with more local knowledge.
Jayasuriya, who officially resigned as head coach following the tournament’s conclusion, will now lead the High Performance Centre. Sri Lanka enjoyed historic home successes in 2024 under his leadership – including a first ODI series win against India in 27 years – but their recent World Cup campaign ended in the Super Eight after disappointing losses to England and New Zealand.
Sri Lanka’s campaign was marked by competing philosophies, with batters in particular seemingly lacking clarity in their roles. SLC, in a media release, stated that the “appointment of the new head coach is part of Sri Lanka Cricket’s efforts to revamp the structure of the National High Performance Center,” and Kirsten will first and foremost be tasked with establishing a clear path to success.
With the 2027 men’s ODI World Cup set to be held in his native South Africa, alongside Namibia and Zimbabwe, Kirsten’s intimate knowledge of those conditions would have also likely played a role in his hire, but SLC will be hoping that his impact will be longer lasting and help build a winning culture similar to those he helped established in India and South Africa.
[Cricinfo]
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