London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced that the three upcoming series in the World Cup League 2, due to take place between March and May, have been postponed because of Covid-19.The World Cup League 2, which forms part of the qualifying pathway to the 2023 World Cup, was scheduled to see 18 ODIs played across the sixth, seventh and eighth series of the competition.
The postponed series included table-toppers Oman who were due to host second-placed USA and seventh-placed Nepal for six ODIs between March 19 and 28.
The seventh series of the competition scheduled PNG who sit at the foot of the standings to host Oman and third-placed Scotland between April 14 and 24.
The final series which will need to be rescheduled was to see PNG play host again, with USA and fourth-placed Namibia travelling to the Pacific to play six ODIs between May 13 and 23.
The postponements are due to the current travel restrictions between countries, the quarantine time required before matches and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, an ICC media release stated.
The ICC said that it will now work with hosts and participating members to find an appropriate window where the qualification pathway fixtures can be safely and practically rescheduled before the cut-off date of February 28, 2023.
The window for rescheduling fixtures has been extended to the latest possible date to provide the best opportunity for qualification to be determined on the field of play.
The next series scheduled in the competition is in July this year where Scotland are due to host Nepal and Namibia for six ODIs.
The World Cup League 2 is a three-and-half-year competition involving seven teams that are two steps away from the 2023 World Cup.
At the culmination of the 21 tri-series, the top three teams in the standings will confirm their place in the World Cup Qualifier 2023. The bottom four teams will drop into the World Cup Qualifier Play-Off 2023 – which is a repechage event to the Global Qualifier – and will be joined by the winner of Challenge League A and B. The top two teams from the Play-Off will keep their hopes alive of participating in 2023 World Cup, by qualifying for the World Cup Qualifier 2023.