New Zealand, the delightful host of many ICC World Cups
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Next month’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 will take place in one of the greatest cricketing nations on earth – New Zealand.
The number one summer sport, and second only to rugby all year round, the Kiwis are simply a nation of cricket lovers.
They have over 70,000 registered players, while figures released by New Zealand Cricket in the last year reveal that there has been a 12% increase in the number of female participants playing the game.
It will be the third time New Zealand host the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, with games to be across six stunning venues.
Let’s take a look at previous major ICC tournaments that have taken place on the land of the long white cloud.
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cups
The 2022 tournament is not the first time New Zealand hosts the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The third tournament of the sport’s oldest world championship, in 1982, was also hosted entirely by New Zealand which included the competition’s first-ever final - the previous two editions in England (1973) and India (1978) were decided via the league table.
But four years later, Lancaster Park in Christchurch hosted the first-ever ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final in front of a crowd of just over 3,000, seeing Australia defeat England by three wickets to lift the trophy.
The tournament returned in 2000 for a three-week-long edition that culminated with a final at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, which saw the host nation triumph in one of the greatest World Cup finals of all-time - defeating Australia by just four runs.
That gave the White Ferns their maiden world title and the class of 2022 would love a similar outcome on home soil this time around.
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups
New Zealand has twice acted as hosts of the men’s 50-over tournament, on both occasions sharing the responsibilities with continental neighbours Australia.
The first time was in 1992, the fifth staging of the finals. Seven of the 18 venues came from the two islands that make up Aotearoa with matches from Dunedin up to Auckland.
The latter's Eden Park, the national stadium, hosted four matches including the opening game of the competition, where the Black Caps memorably beat their co-hosts by 37 runs.
In 2015, the men’s tournament returned as seven cities, including Hamilton, Napier, Christchurch, Nelson and Dunedin hosted games, this time with each having a minimum of three matches.
The largest stadia, Eden Park and the 37,000-capacity Wellington Regional Stadium, both hosted four games including a quarter- and a semi-final between them.
The last-four tie in Auckland provided one of the highlights of the tournament when Brendon McCullum’s team beat South Africa by four wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method and reach their first-ever senior men’s final before falling to their co-hosts at the MCG.
ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cups
New Zealand has also hosted the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup tournament on three occasions.
The best young players in the world have headed to the islands described as the ‘paradise of the Pacific’, for the 2002, 2010, and 2018 events.
The Bert Sutcliffe Oval hosted the finals of the 2002 and 2010 editions, while the Bay Oval in the stunning surroundings of Mount Maunganui, Tauranga hosted the 2018 final between India and Australia that saw the Indians win by eight wickets.