Women's World T20 venues revealed

Antigua, Guyana and St Lucia have been revealed as the venues for this year’s ICC Women’s World T20.

The tournament, to be held from November 9-24, will be the first standalone Women’s World T20 after previous editions were held in conjunction with the men’s tournament.

The event will begin with group matches at the Guyana National Stadium and the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, before the action heads to the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua for the semi-finals and final.

The three venues were selected by Cricket West Indies through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC.

Hosts West Indies will be out to defend the title they claimed for the first time in India in 2016, when they defeated Meg Lanning’s Australian team in the final at Eden Gardens.

Australia, England, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa will also compete, with the full fixture to be revealed by the ICC in the coming months.

The remaining two spots will be decided at the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in July, to be contested by Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Windies women are the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champions and I’ve no doubt they’ll be looking to defend their title on home soil,” ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said.

“We are keen to build on the momentum from this summer’s Women’s World Cup (in the UK) and I’m sure the players can rely on a warm welcome from the legendary cricket fans in the West Indies and we’re all in for a great experience in the Caribbean.”

Australia will be hoping to win their fourth title from six editions of the tournament and stamp their authority on an event they will host themselves just 14 months later, in February 2020. That tournament will also be a standalone event, with the 2020 men’s World T20 to be hosted by Australia in October of that year.

Australia will go in with fond memories of the Caribbean, having claimed the 2010 World T20 title with a narrow win over New Zealand in the final in Barbados.

Their preparations for this year’s event will begin on the subcontinent in March when they take on India and England in a T20I tri-series in Mumbai.

Australia are also set to play Pakistan away from home in the lead-up to the event in the Caribbean.

After retaining the Women’s Ashes on home soil in November, Australia are hopeful of regaining the services of injured skipper Lanning for the tour of India, with the star batter’s recovery from shoulder surgery progressing well.