As per reports, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has cancelled the East-Asia Pacific qualifiers, which was set to take place in Japan. The East-Asia Pacific qualifiers formed a part of the qualifications for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2022 and the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023.
In the men’s tournament, the participants included hosts Japan, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, Samoa, South Korea and Vanuatu were scheduled to participate in October. In the women’s tournament, the competitors included Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, PNG, Samoa, and Vanuatu and they were set to feature in the tournament scheduled for November.
The men’s qualifier was supposed to be held between October 18 and 23 in Japan, while the women’s qualifier was set to be played between November 7 and 12, the hosts for which were yet to be decided.
Being the highest-ranked side in the men’s ranking as of 30 April 2020, the Philippines team has been deemed eligible to progress to the next round. For the women’s tournament, the team which holds the highest ranking on the cut-off date of November 30, 2021, will progress to the qualifier.
“We have unfortunately had to cancel the EAP Qualifiers to the Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cups as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Chris Tetley, ICC’s head of events, said. “With the current travel restrictions and quarantine requirements for travelling countries meant the only course of action was to cancel. We would like to thank all participating Members for their patience and support in coming to this decision.
“In accordance with the decision taken by the ICC Board in November 2020 in relation to cancelled qualifying events the Philippines will now qualify for the next stage of the Men’s pathway. For the women’s, the team that will advance to the global qualifier based on the rankings will be determined at the end of November 2021.”
Furthermore, the ICC has also rescheduled the Americas qualifier for the Women’s T20 World Cup also. The tournament will now take place between October 18-25 in Mexico and with Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the USA competing to qualify.
Earlier, the 2022 men’s Under-19 World Cup qualifying events were also cancelled for the Americas, Asia, and East-Asia Pacific regions, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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