The White Ferns kick off their World Cup campaign next week against the West Indies. Photo / Photosport
The White Ferns kick off their World Cup campaign next week against the West Indies. Photo / Photosport
The women's Cricket World Cup could feature games with just nine players as organisers hope to minimise disruptions to the tournament amid New Zealand's rapidly spreading Covid-19 outbreak.
The tournament is set to begin next week on March 4 with hosts New Zealand opening their campaign against the West Indies at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
World Cup organisers today announced how the tournament will operate during the Omicron outbreak, which has seen daily Covid-19 cases skyrocket into the thousands, with 6,137 people announced as positive cases today.
"We have allowed squads to increase in size," said ICC head of events Chris Tetley. "Whilst the official playing 15 is still set at 15, as has always been the case, we've allowed squads to bring in additional travelling reserves so that they can replace, on a temporary basis if needs be because of Covid, players in and out of the squad during the event, which is a four-five week event.
"So there's an opportunity for players maybe to contract Covid but then to be able to come back."
In order to further ensure games will be able to continue, to avoid the logistical challenges of rescheduling games, teams will be also allowed to compete with just nine players if required, with two female non-bowling and non-batting substitutes from the team management making up the 11.
"If it became necessary, we would allow a team to field nine players as an exception in this environment. If they had substitutes from within their management team, female substitutes, we would enable two substitutes to play non-batting and non-bowling substitutes to enable a game to take place.
"We would, were it necessary, reschedule fixtures if it's possible. There's obviously a number of logistical constraints upon us, but we'll be asking teams to show maximum flexibility and we will be as flexible as possible, if the need arises."
Tetley also revealed that the Super Over rule that saw the Black Caps lose the 2019 World Cup final to England on a boundary tiebreaker has been changed.
"We would have, if it were necessary, unlimited Super Overs if we get to that point in the game. So we wouldn't get to the runs-boundaries countback that we experienced in 2019."
2022 Cricket World Cup boss Andrea Nelson. Photo / Photosport
Cricket World Cup chief executive Andrea Nelson added that players will be following "some pretty strict protocols" during the tournament.
"We have put measures in place such as charter flights domestically, exclusive hotel floors and an environment where if you are interacting with the team, you need to isolate for a period of time before you enter in.
"So that hopefully keeps the team environment as safe as possible and then we'll focus on inside the stadiums and keeping the public safe."
With the tournament set to take place under the Government's red light setting, crowds will be limited at stadiums to pods of 100, a similar situation to the Black Caps' first test against South Africa in Christchurch last week.
Nelson said there will be "some" tickets available for certain matches from early next week, but some venues will have to cancel existing ticket holders.
"We're working really hard to see how many people we can get into the stadium and maximise interest in the World Cup," she said.
Fans who miss out on tickets will be able to watch games on Sky TV, while White Ferns matches will be free-to-air.
World Cup warm-up matches begin on Sunday, with the White Ferns taking on Pakistan.
