Scots women win home advantage for qualifiers

Scotland is to host the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier later this year.

Eight teams will compete for the final two places at the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

Scotland will be joined in the tournament by Ireland, Bangladesh, Thailand and four other countries who are yet to qualify from their respective regional qualifiers, which are to be held in May and June of this year.

Announcing their success in being chosen to host the Global Qualifier, which is to be staged from 31 August to 7 September this year, Cricket Scotland said in a statement: “Winning the bid to host the qualifier is a massive achievement for Cricket Scotland and offers a huge opportunity to grow the profile of the women’s game in the country and create a legacy for the further development of grassroots cricket at the host venues. Additionally, the event complements other highprofile women’s events being staged in Scotland, including the newly-created Women’s Tour of Scotland cycling event and the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September.”

Cricket Scotland CEO Malcolm Cannon, pictured, added: “It is an exciting time for Scottish cricket as we strive to introduce more people into the game at entry level and compete with the best on the international stage. “I am immensely proud at the team for winning this bid. However, we now have our work cut out to stage a great tournament and to raise the profile and noise level around women’s sport, cricket in particular and, of course, around our great squad and support team ahead of the event in August. This also gives us home advantage from which to qualify for our first ever World Cup finals, so we have everything to play and prepare for.”

Details of the host city and venue will be announced shortly.