Day: October 13, 2022

Dubai, October 13, 2022 (PPI-OT):The International Cricket Council (ICC) and UNICEF today launched a global partnership to empower women and girls and promote inclusion and gender equality through cricket.

Initiatives to drive greater gender equity along with advocacy campaigns involving some of the world’s best players will form the basis of the partnership which aims to mobilise the power of cricket to drive positive social change.

Later in the year, as part of this collaboration, UNICEF and the ICC will launch Criiio 4 Good, a cricket for development curriculum giving girls and boys the opportunity to have a fun first experience of the game whilst learning gender-based life-skills essential for gender equity.

The Criiio 4 Good programme, which will be available free on the ICC and UNICEF websites, delivers an eight-week lesson plan on the fundamentals of batting, bowling and fielding. Whilst each lesson plan has a life-skill module attached to teach participants core life skills that will promote greater gender equity. These skills include leadership, problem-solving, self-esteem, negotiation, empathy, decision-making, teamwork and goal setting.

The ICC will also use its global platform to drive greater awareness of the importance of empowering women and girls and gender equity, giving some of the world’s best players the opportunity to get involved in driving greater social change.

ICC and UNICEF partner to promote gender equality through cricket Australia men’s T20I captain Aaron Finch is leading the call for every cricket fan to #BeAChampion. He said: “I am so proud, as the dad of a daughter, to #BeAChampion for girls and support the partnership between the ICC and UNICEF to promote gender equity through cricket.

“Cricket has more than one billion fans and we have a huge platform to empower women and girls through our sport. The Criiio 4 Good programme gives young girls and boys the chance to get active whilst learning life skills that are essential for gender equity. Every single cricket fan can join me and #BeAChampion and together we can harness cricket to build a better future.”

The partnership will continue throughout the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa and Proteas Captain, Dané van Niekerk, said, “What an amazing initiative by the ICC in collaboration with UNICEF, aimed at fostering an equal future for women and girls from all walks of life through the shared passion for the game of cricket.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to #BeAChampion for this worthy cause as cricket has played an immense role throughout my life and I truly believe that this sport has the power to affect real positive change in many young people’s lives, especially girls, whose place on the field of play cannot be disputed.

“I would like to encourage all sports lovers, cricket fans, parents, guardians and coaches to play their part, no matter how significant, to promote gender equity through the Cricket 4 Good campaign which will help smash the existing biases for six while providing an enjoyable, lesson-filled experience.

“On behalf of the South African national women’s cricket team and Cricket South Africa, I pledge to further advance the message and potential impact this programme will have on future generations, and I trust many of my colleagues in the cricket fraternity will follow suit,”

Speaking on the partnership, Geoff Allardice, ICC CEO, said: “Harnessing the power of cricket to build a better future is a central part of our global growth strategy. So, I am delighted to be continuing our partnership with UNICEF to empower women and girls through cricket.

“The Criiio 4 Good programme is a wonderful tool for anyone around the world to use to get young girls and boys active having fun with a bat and ball and also learn vital life-skills that will help shape a more gender equal world in the future.”

Elaborating on the partnership, Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, said, “The partnership with ICC is fantastic and powerful. It reaches more than a billion cricket fans with the message to be a champion for girls. When girls’ do better, we all do better. We know that the benefits of gender equality go beyond their direct impact on children. With gender equality, we create a world of tolerance and shared responsibility – a world that is fit for children.”

Through this initiative ICC will use its global platforms, including its broadcast and digital channels to support UNICEF’s work and highlight girls around the world in gender equitable situations.

All 16 competing nations will also hold Cricket 4 Good Coaching Clinics at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup venues during the tournament with up to 40 school children taking part in each one. The players will introduce the children to the Criiio 4 Good curriculum so as well as fun cricket drills, the participants will also learn more about gender equity and get to meet their cricketing heroes.

The ICC events the partnership will be activated at include:

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Australia, Oct-Nov 2022

ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, South Africa, Jan 2023

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, South Africa, Feb 2023

ICC World Test Championship Final, England, June 2023

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, India, Oct-Nov 2023

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, October 13, 2022 (PPI-OT):Two-time champions West Indies headline Group B of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, with Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe also vying for a Super 12 spot.

The teams will clash in a round-robin format from October 17-21, with the top two advancing to the next stage. The Bellerive Oval in Hobart will play host for all six First Round fixtures but only two will be able to return to the 20,000 capacity stadium in the knockout phase.

Windies find themselves in the first round by virtue of having finished ninth at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, their lowest finish since the inaugural tournament in 2007.

Scotland are the only other side in the group who made the Super 12 stage last time out, having topped Group B 12 months ago in Oman.

Ireland, meanwhile, have not progressed to the knockout phase in any of their last five tournaments and Zimbabwe are making their first tournament appearance since 2016.

West Indies (eighth appearance)

A new-look West Indies head to Australia hoping that a clean slate yields a change in fortune.

Gone are many of the usual protagonists – Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard have retired, Andre Russell was left out and Shimron Hetmyer didn’t make the trip.

Nicholas Pooran is the man entrusted with leading the side and how he performs both with the bat, and as captain – in what is his first ICC tournament in charge – may determine how deep the Windies go at the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Yannic Cariah is a surprise inclusion in the squad, having not bowled in any T20 game since 2016. Whether he and left-arm option Akeal Hosein have enough to bamboozle the world’s best batters remains to be seen but there is no shortage of all-rounders who are well-placed to contribute to the wickets column.

Jason Holder is a man who needs no introduction, while the uncapped Raymon Reifer could also be one to keep an eye on as the Men in Maroon look to kickstart what they will hope will be a bright, new era.

Ireland (seventh appearance)

Not since 2009 have Ireland reached the knockout stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and they will hope that this is finally the year they lay their group stage hoodoo to rest.

They looked on course to end their barren run in the UAE after beating the Netherlands in their opening fixture but were overcome by Sri Lanka before losing to Namibia in a winner-takes-all encounter.

Their opening fixture, against Zimbabwe, could well determine their fate with the pair just a place apart in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings.

Kevin O’Brien may have called time on his career in August, but the likes of Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie still offer a wealth of experience. The batting department looks well stocked with Gareth Delany and Harry Tector sure to be aggressive from the get-go, but the bowling unit has been weakened by the loss of the injured Craig Young.

Ireland have played a lot of cricket over the summer against the world’s best sides in both T20 and ODI formats and will now hope that their prolonged preparation pays off in the form of a place in the Super 12.

Scotland (fifth appearance)

Whereas Ireland have played more than 20 T20Is this year, Scotland have played just two since the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, prior to a warm-up fixture against the Netherlands.

Two T20Is against New Zealand in July ended in heavy defeats, though they have fared better in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2, with five wins in their last six in the 50-over competition.

This year’s squad has a similar feel to the one which claimed three group stage wins in 2021, including George Munsey, who looks set to impress with the bat once more – the opener strikes at 144 in T20I cricket.

He and Richie Berrington, who has not missed a T20 international since February 2010, will be key to their hopes of a second consecutive Super 12 spot.

They may be the lowest ranked side in the group but they have more than enough talent throughout the team to compete. Take spinner Mark Watt for example, who has a T20I five-for to his name and is often entrusted to bowl at the death due to his tight line and ability to bowl Yorkers.

Zimbabwe (sixth appearance)

With a new head coach and an impressive recent run in T20Is, expectations are high for the Chevrons as they journey down under.

A legend of Zimbabwe cricket as a player and as a coach, Dave Houghton will lead his country at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup nearly 40 years after his international debut as a player.

His re-appointment in the summer is bound to have generated a feel-good factor around the camp, not that one was needed, with the side having won seven of their last nine T20Is.

Houghton even masterminded a shock 50-over victory over Australia in Queensland in September, with leg-spinner Ryan Burl finishing with figures of five-for-ten. But the man of the moment is undoubtedly 36-year-old all-rounder Sikandar Raza, whose strike rate currently hovers around 150 in the T20 format.

And with captain Craig Ervine back from a hamstring injury at the top of the order, Zimbabwe will fancy their chances of securing a Super 12 stage spot for the first time in their history.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com