Women's World Twenty20 to run separate from men's tournament in 2020
Friday 14 October 2016 19:59, UK
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the Women's World Twenty20 will be staged separately from the men's event in Australia in 2020.
Cricket Australia made a request to hold the women's tournament six months before the men because of the huge success of their domestic Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
This year's event in India featured women's and men's games running side-by-side, although there were concerns over crowd levels with the women's matches usually being played earlier in the day.
Cricket Australia's David Peever said: "Women's cricket is undoubtedly gaining in popularity around the globe and we felt that by separating the two events we could accelerate that growth.
"Having the ICC Women's World Twenty20 as a stand-alone event means we can hold it in stadiums that we can fill, put on TV at prime-time and ensure it has the space to be promoted away from the shadow of the men's game.
"WBBL has taught us that there is an audience for women's cricket both live and on prime-time television and this decision means we have the opportunity to hold the biggest women's sporting event ever held in Australia."
