Papua New Guinea have been forced to withdraw from the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe this month after a number of COVID-19 infections in the camp.
Papua New Guinea was forced into quarantine on 30th October before their planned departure on 6th November, but when multiple PCR tests on squad members failed to return a negative, they were left with no option but to withdraw because they did not have enough players who could pass the required COVID-19 tests.
Cricket Papua New Guinea said that over the weekend they worked with the ICC about later flight options to give the team more time to be able to tour, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Papua New Guinea were set to travel early in order to acclimatise to Zimbabwean conditions after no cricket had been played in the country for nearly two years because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Papua New Guinea were to compete with West Indies, Netherlands, Ireland, and Sri Lanka in the group phase of the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. Two teams from the tournament will play in the tournament proper.
