South Africa was recently chosen to host the inaugural ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge, which will take place in Potchefstroom, North West province, in October this year.

The tournament will be played under the banner of the International Cricket Council (ICC), with Cricket South Africa (CSA) as the official host. All-women teams, currently ranked between fifth and 10th best in the world, will compete in a series of one day international (ODI) and Twenty20 fixtures. Countries in the line-up are South Africa, the Netherlands, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Ireland.

“This tournament is an ideal way for the women’s teams ranked outside of the top four to gain more match experience in both ODI and Twenty20 formats,” ICC global development manager Matthew Kennedy said in a statement.

It’s hoped the October competition will shake up women’s ODI rankings and enable some of the competing countries to qualify for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup to be played in India in 2013.

“The tournament will also provide a good challenge for all six competing teams, as none of them has yet qualified for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup,” Kennedy said.

The top-four women ODI teams – England, New Zealand, India and defending champions Australia – have already qualified for the World Cup, which features eight nations. South Africa participated in the 2009 World Cup held in Australia, and hosted it in 2005.

The country’s female players are expected to perform well in the African qualifier games, which will wrap up in December 2010. The final international qualifiers, to be held in Bangladesh in November 2011, will see 10 nations battle it out for the four remaining World Cup spots.

Sourced by SA – The Good News (www.sagoodnews.co.za) via MediaClub South Africa

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