Cricket has been re-introduced into the Commonwealth Games 2022 after a span of 24 years. Cricket was played in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 with South Africa beating Australia in the 50 overs format final. In the CWG 2022, the T20 format has got the nod with women's cricket team of top 8 nations based on ICC rankings participating. The inclusion of cricket in the CWG 2022 is a bid of the cricketing world to introduce the game in the Olympics.
Talking about CWG 2022 Cricket format, a total of 8 women's cricket team will collide with 4 teams in Group A while the remaining in Group B. England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Barbados are the sides in the competition. England qualified directly as hosts with the next six spots taken by the next highest-ranked T20 international sides as of April 2021 - Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and West Indies.
Notably, which team will represent the Island nation West Indies i.e. Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands was to be decided by a qualifying tournament, however, due to the COVID-19 scare, Barbadost was chosen from West Indies.
Furthermore, in the cricket 2022 CWG format, every match will take place at Edgbaston with each team playing the other teams in their group once each. The top two in each group advance to the semi-finals with the bottom two eliminated.
2022 CWG Cricket schedule: India vs Pakistan
July 29 - Australia v India (11am); Barbados v Pakistan (6pm)
July 30 - New Zealand v South Africa (11am); England v Sri Lanka (6pm)
July 31 - India v Pakistan (11am); Australia v Barbados (6pm)
August 2 - England v South Africa (11am); New Zealand v Sri Lanka (6pm)
August 3 - Australia v Pakistan (11am); Barbados v India (6pm)
August 4 - South Africa v Sri Lanka (11am); England v New Zealand (6pm)
August 6 - Semi-finals (11am and 6pm)
August 7 - Bronze medal match (10am); Gold medal match (5pm)