Sarawak To Host ICC U19 Women's T20 Cricket World Cup Qualifiers

KUCHING, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- Sarawak will host the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament from Jan 18 to 28.

Malaysian Cricket Association patron Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar said the tournament will be the second World Cup event to be hosted in the state, following the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, which was held in Kuching.

He said the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup qualifying rounds in Kuching will feature teams from New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and Samoa.

"A total of 10 out of 42 matches will be hosted in Sarawak, all of which will be broadcast live to over 180 countries via Star Sports and ICC’s official platforms and applications," he said in a statement here today.

According to him, despite being a minority sport in Sarawak, the development of cricket in the state has been aggressively pursued by the Sarawak Cricket Association.

"This effort was recently highlighted by the Sarawak women’s cricket team’s victory in the MCA Women’s T20 Interstate 2025, where they defeated Selangor by 44 runs in the final.

"Efforts by the Sarawak Cricket Association, supported by the Sarawak State Sports Council and the Sarawak Sports Corporation, are expected to further expand cricket’s reach across Sarawak’s divisions," Tunku Imran said.

He added that the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup trophy will be displayed exclusively tomorrow at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here starting at 8 am and at Plaza Merdeka Mall beginning at noon.

For match information, the public can refer to the official website at https://www.icc-cricket.com/.

-- BERNAMA