London’s Waterloo Bridge was transformed into a cricket pitch for the first time on Sunday as all 12 captains taking part in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup — including Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu — gathered for a launch event ahead of the tournament’s first ball on June 12 in Birmingham.
The “Captains’ Carnival,” staged above the River Thames against a backdrop of Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye, was the first public gathering of all 12 skippers ahead of the eight-team event in England and Wales. The ICC said the spectacle was designed as a symbol of the growth and visibility of women’s cricket on the global stage.
“This is a landmark moment for women’s Cricket and a fitting way to launch what we believe will be the most exciting and ambitious ICC Women’s T20 World Cup ever staged,” ICC Chairman Jay Shah said. He added the event would provide “the final boost to the anticipation for the tournament before the first ball is bowled.”
Pre-tournament ticket sales have already reached around 200,000, a record figure for an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup that the governing body said “comfortably eclipses previous benchmarks.” ICC Director and England Cricket Board Chair Richard Thompson called the gathering a sign of “how far the women’s game has come and where it’s headed,” and said the tournament was on track to be the “most attended and most widely covered Women’s World Cup ever.”
Sri Lanka announced their 15-member squad on May 29 and departed on June 3 under Athapaththu’s captaincy. The tournament also carries a record prize money pool of US$13.88 million, more than triple the 2023 edition.
Sources: Ada Derana — Women’s T20 World Cup launched in London.
