The International Cricket Council on Saturday announced that the Women’s ODI World Cup qualifiers have been called off due to the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in Africa. It added that teams will make the cut for the tournament on the basis of rankings. 

Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh have qualified for the Women’s ODI World Cup next year. 

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“The qualifiers will now be decided according to the team rankings as detailed in the tournament playing conditions. Therefore, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies will now progress to the event in New Zealand,” said the ICC in a statement.

Several travel restrictions have been introduced in African countries after a new COVID-19 strain – Omicron -was detected. 

The ICC said the decision to stop the event was based on its concerns about how the participating teams would head back in the wake of variant’s rise.

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Play in two of the three matches that would decide the final teams for the tournament scheduled for Saturday – Zimbabwe v Pakistan and USA v Thailand – started but the third fixture of the day, between the West Indies and Sri Lanka, could not be staged as a member of the Sri Lanka team support staff tested positive for COVID-19.

“We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel the remainder of this event but with travel restrictions from a number of African countries being imposed at such short notice there was a serious risk that teams would be unable to return home,” ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said.

“We have explored a number of options to allow us to complete the event but it isn’t feasible and we will fly the teams out of Zimbabwe as soon as possible.

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The teams who have qualified for the World Cup are Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand (hosts), Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh. The mega event will be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3.

“The number of teams in the third cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship (from 2022-2025) has been increased from eight to ten, and these teams will be Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland,” the statement added.