The International Cricket Council (ICC) mitigated the tense situation between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by ensuring future India vs Pakistan matches take place at neutral venues.
It worked out well in the 2025 Champions Trophy earlier in the year. The only issue was some backlash from players from other nations, who didn’t like the fact that Team India didn’t have to travel outside of Dubai and therefore had an unfair advantage.
However, things haven’t gone well in the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. India was the official host of the tournament, but Sri Lanka was added as co-host since Pakistan wouldn’t play in India.
Poor planning by ICC
The issue for the ICC has been that 4 of the 9 matches that have been played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo have been washed out. It wasn’t simply bad luck either. The ICC is to blame for the lack of cricket. The former England spinner has lashed out due to the horrid scheduling.
“I don’t really know what anybody was expecting, to be completely honest. You have a tournament in Sri Lanka during the monsoon season; it pretty much rains at the same time every single day. It’s ruined this World Cup – it’s been a real shame. You don’t want to come into a 50-over World Cup going, ‘Oh, well, let’s hope we get a T20 tonight if it rains a little bit.’ It’s been a little bit too predictable and really disappointing,” Hartley told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup winner also criticised the fact that the ICC didn’t start the match earlier, like at 10 or 11 AM, instead of the usual 3 PM. New Zealand captain Sophie Devine had pitched the same idea after the Kiwis lost out on possibly winning two matches in Colombo due to rain.
“I toured Sri Lanka 10 years ago in October, and every single one of our training sessions got rained out every single afternoon. The games in Sri Lanka could have, and should have, started earlier – that’s the only way you could have got the games unaffected,” the former spinner added.
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