Lord’s confirmed as venue for 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup final
Lord’s will host the final of the Women’s World Cup in 2017, the ICC has announced, with fixtures also being allocated to Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and Somerset during the tournament that takes place between June 26 and July 23.Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Lord’s have been named as venues for the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017.
It will be the first time that the tournament has been held in England since 1993, when the home side beat New Zealand in the final at Lord’s.
The tournament, which starts on 26 June next year, consists of 31 matches, with Lord’s hosting the final on 23 July.
It will feature eight teams and will be played in a round-robin format.
Steve Elworthy, the ECB’s director of events, said the tournament will help “drive interest and participation in women’s cricket at every level”.
He added: “It’s critical we use this event to reach out to young children in particular, so we’ve moved the tournament start date to earlier in the summer, a decision which will help our host venues encourage attendance by engaging with schools in the build-up to the event.”
“In this country, last summer’s record-breaking attendances for the Women’s Ashes series showed there is a growing audience and appetite for women’s cricket – we witnessed excellent crowds, including full houses at Chelmsford and Hove, coupled with growing media and commercial interest,” Clare Connor, the ICC women’s cricket committee’s chairwoman said in a statement.
Steve Elworthy, England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) director of events said: “This is a very exciting time for the women’s game in this country and staging a Women’s World Cup here will really help drive interest and participation in women’s cricket at every level.”
Eight sides will participate in the single-league format with each side playing each other at least once. The top four sides from the league stage will qualify to the semi-finals, the winners of which will play in the final at Lord’s on July 23.
The top four sides from the ongoing ICC Women’s Championship will qualify for the event, while the remainder will be decided by a ten-team qualification tournament in early 2017.
England hosted the inaugural Women’s World Cup, back in 1973, and again in 1993. The team was victorious in both campaigns, and won the title for a third occasion in Sydney in 2009.
