There is good news for women in cricket and we are happy that there are foundational steps being taken to improve the game. The first ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup is going to be held in South Africa from January 14 to January 29, 2023. The league will include 16 teams, including 5 Associate teams.

The tournament will host 41 games in the span of 15 days where teams from nations across the world will compete to show where their future lies ahead and which team in the coming years will possess great talent.

The tournament might have a little complex way of working, let’s take a look:

There are four groups at the start of the tournament namely A, B. C, and D. The top three teams from each group advance to the Super Six League stage, where Group A teams face Group D opponents and Group B teams face Group C opponents.

Group A consists of Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the United States, while Group B consists of Rwanda, Pakistan, England, and Sri Lanka. Group C includes Ireland, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the West Indies; Group D includes Scotland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and India.

It is for the first time ever, that Rwanda and Indonesia will compete in the World Cup.

The group stage will consist of four matches each day. On January 20, the Super Six stage will start. On January 27, the semifinals will take place, and on January 29, the final.

The COVID-19 epidemic caused the competition to be postponed from its original January 2021 start date until December 2021.The ICC examined the potential of moving the event from its scheduled month of January 2021 to a later month of the same year in November 2020. After much delay, The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced in January 2021 that they would host the competition in December 2021, although it was postponed a second time and moved to January 2023.

The tournament serves a greater purpose as it brings young women into the light of an international audience and gives them exposure to the limelight for which they should be ready as they hone positions in their national teams later. How the competition sparks will determine the quality of cricket for women and their progress in the sport in the coming years.

This is a much-welcomed step and we are all excited to see the young talented women representing their country at the international level. Something to look forward to.

Here is the Schedule for ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup:

January 14

AUS v BAN (1.30 pm IST)
UAE v SCO (1.30pm IST)
RSA v IND (5.15pm IST)
SL v USA (5.15pm IST)

January 15
PAK v RWA (1.30pm IST)
WI v IRE (1.30pm IST)
ENG v ZIM (5.15pm IST)
NZ v INA (5.15pm IST)

January 16
IND v UAE (1.30pm IST)
SL v BAN (1.30pm IST)
RSA v SCO (5.15pm IST)
AUS v USA (5.15pm IST)

January 17
NZ v IRE (1.30pm IST)
ZIM v RWA (1.30pm IST)
ENG v PAK (5.15pm IST)
WI v INA (5.15pm IST)

January 18
AUS v SL (1.30pm IST)
BAN v USA (1.30pm IST)
RSA v UAE (5.15pm IST)
IND v SCO (5.15pm IST)

January 19
IRE v INA (1.30pm IST)
ENG v RWA (1.30pm IST)
NZ v WI (5.15pm IST)
ZIM v PAK (5.15pm IST)

January 20
A4 v D4 (1.30pm IST)
B4 v C4 (5.15pm IST)

January 21
C3 v B1 (1.30pm IST)
B3 v C1 (1.30pm IST)
A1 v D2 (5.15pm IST)
D1 v A2 (5.15pm IST)

January 22
D1 v A3 (5.15pm IST)
C2 v B3 (5.15pm IST)

January 23
D3 v A2 (5.15pm IST)
B2 v C3 (5.15pm IST)

January 24
C1 v B2 (5.15pm IST)
D2 v A3 (5.15pm IST)

January 25
B1 v C2 (5.15pm IST)
D3 v A1 (5.15pm IST)

January 27
SEMIFINAL 1 (1.30pm IST)
SEMIFINAL 2 (5.15pm IST)

January 29
FINAL (5.15pm IST)