The semi-finalists for the Women's T20 World Cup have been decided. In the first semi-final on Tuesday, Australia play West Indies. In the second, on Thursday, South Africa play England. Both matches will be played at Kennington Oval in London. Much was expected from the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian cricket team, the defending ODI World Cup champions, but a loss to South Africa in a Group A match dealt them a big blow. Then came a loss to Australia in their last group-stage match, which knocked them out of the tournament.
Ahead of India's match against Australia, England's Alex Hartley and Kate Cross came together on a podcast and questioned the scheduling of the Women's T20 World Cup. Hartley, who played 28 ODIs and four Tests, retired from professional cricket in 2023. Cross "considered retirement when she lost her England contract last year but has committed to another full season," a report in Cricinfo said earlier this year.
"Can we talk about the fact that if India qualify for the semis, they're guaranteed to play the Tuesday semi-final because the ICC think that's the best one for them to play in time-wise," Cross claimed.
"Happens in men's cricket, women's cricket. All World Cups," Hartley reacted.
"Everyone's gonna plan it based on when India are gonna play. It's absolutely mental. I don't understand how you can go into a tournament and the governing body would prioritize one team like that. I know exactly why they are doing it. I think it's absolutely ridiculous," added Cross.
"It is bad, it is bad," said Hartley.
The first semi-final on Tuesday starts at 7 pm IST, while the second semi-final begins at 11 pm IST. The final will be played at 8 pm IST. In the group stages, India's matches were not the only ones to be played in the early evening.
After that video went viral, Cross claimed she received death threats.
"To our post about the ICC scheduling for the semi-finals, there were 450 comments on that post. So, there seems to be some confusion here because what we said, I don't think, warrants getting death threats and abuse. Let's just be a little kinder," Cross said.
Hartley said she talked to "someone at the ICC" who said that the scheduling was meant to optimise global viewership and had nothing to do with India. She read out the full ICC response over the scheduling.
"I have actually spoken to someone at the ICC. 'We would like to clarify that this has nothing to do with India and this has been done to optimise spectatorship in the UK as well as global viewing.' According to the ICC, the scheduling was done to optimize viewership and attendance in the UK while also considering the global audience," she said.
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