USA National Team Captains Hail Return of International Cricket in 2021

• USA Cricket expresses its delight at being awarded the hosting duties for two ICC Pathway Events in 2021

The Men’s and Women’s National Team Captains have spoken of their joy at the scheduled return of international cricket in 2021, with USA Cricket also delighted as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has awarded the hosting of both the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier and the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Americas Qualifier in 2021 to the United States.

There have been five significant announcements from the ICC over the course of the last week with the headline details and further links as follows;

1. USA will host an expanded four team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in September 2021 with one team qualifying from Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Team USA for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier to be held in 2022. Full details here.
2. The complete schedule for ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 has been announced, with three places up for grabs still from the ICC qualifying tournament which is confirmed to take place 26 June – 10 July 2021 in Sri Lanka, that Team USA will be playing in. Full details here.
3. USA will play host to the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Americas Qualifier, as four countries – Argentina, Bermuda, Canada, USA – will battle it out to take the one qualification spot from the Americas. Full details here.
4. USA Men’s National Team will need to get through a two-step process in their bid to qualify for the Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time with the journey starting with an 8 team Qualifier in Canada in July 2021. If USA can finish in the top 2 places there, they will progress to either the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier ‘A’ or ‘B’, which will both have 2 places at Australia 2022 up for grabs. Full details here.
5. USA Men’s National Team will return to international cricket after more than a 12 month break in play due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the amended schedule for the ICC Cricket World Cup League now confirmed. Full details here.

USA Cricket Chief Executive, Iain Higgins, said, “It is a major development to have been awarded the hosting of two of the three Regional ICC Qualifying Events in 2021 and reflects a strong endorsement of the progress we have been making despite a very challenging 12 months. Hosting these events aligns extremely well with the strategic objectives in our Foundational Plan to have a focus on Women and Girls Cricket, as well as Youth Cricket and to bring events to American soil.  We look forward to welcoming our neighbouring countries from across the Americas and we are excited about the prospect of some competitive cricket in both of these events. The Talent IDs and Zonal Trials that we were able to stage this year have unearthed some fantastic new talent, and the coaching and selection appointments and other supporting structures that we are putting in place, gives us great confidence that we will be able to put on strong performances.  This also gives us an opportunity to showcase international cricket around the country and, we will have more details on the prospective hosting venues in due course.”

Higgins continued, “Alongside the news of hosting these two events, there have been critical announcements for the Men’s National Team – with the pathway confirmed for the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia 2022 and the amended schedule for ICC Cricket World Cup League on the Road to India 2023.  And the Women’s National Team has another crucial tournament to set their sights on, with the rescheduled Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka becoming a key focus for their year.  

I’d like to thank all of the players and coaching staff for their continuing efforts and patience behind the scenes during a very frustrating period for international cricket.  There are more announcements to come as we develop the full international and domestic playing calendar for 2021, but this set of announcements provides great encouragement and focus for everybody associated with Team USA.”

Team USA Women’s Captain, Sindhu Sriharsha said, “It’s been a year unlike any other, but we have been doing a huge amount together, just virtually, with our Team’s training moving entirely online. We are so happy to have confirmed fixtures on the horizon now, with the Americas Qualifier for the T20 World Cup being preceded by the 50 Over Women’s World Cup Global Qualifier in Sri Lanka. We are looking forward to both events, the challenge we face in Sri Lanka first up in June before hosting in the T20 format at home in September. We will absolutely not be underestimating the newcomers Brazil or Argentina, nor old rivals Canada, but we will be targeting a first-place finish and a chance for another opportunity at another global qualifier.”

Team USA Men’s Captain, Saurabh Netravalkar said, “There is no doubt it has been an incredibly challenging year for everyone in the wider American cricketing community. The news this week of the return of international cricket in 2021 is something that gives us great hope and plenty to look forward to in the new year. We have been using the time-off from international fixtures productively and been training hard remotely or in small groups where possible. We have a clear pathway now to both the T20 World Cup and the 50 Over Cricket World Cup with a very exciting schedule on the calendar now for Team USA. We will be doing everything we can to bring success to the team in both formats and we all can’t wait to get going again in Oman in March.”

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Pts	NRR	Qualification
1	Oman	10	8	2	0	0	16	0.177	Qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
2	United States	12	6	6	0	0	12	−0.318
3	Scotland	8	4	3	0	1	9	0.139
4	Namibia	7	4	3	0	0	8	0.008	Qualification for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off
5	United Arab Emirates	7	3	3	0	1	7	−0.004
6	Nepal	4	2	2	0	0	4	0.982
7	Papua New Guinea	8	0	8	0	0	0	−0.458

The current ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Table