Steve Snell, the Performance Head at Cricket Scotland, has confirmed to Wisden that Pakistan’s women’s team won’t be touring there this July — not because of scheduling or logistics, but because Scotland simply cannot afford to host them. All this because they didn’t qualify for the Women’s ODI World Cup.
Here’s the kicker: Pakistan were really keen to tour. And given how closely fought the qualifiers were — Pakistan vs Scotland was a tight match, and Scotland even pulled off an upset win over tournament favourites West Indies — a short bilateral series could’ve been a great build-up for Pakistan before the World Cup. But now that Scotland are out, the funding has dried up.
This could really affect Pakistan’s preparations — they’re headed to a World Cup with fewer competitive games under their belt. And for Scotland, it’s a missed opportunity to build experience and visibility for their women’s team.
One has to ask: should Pakistan invite Scotland to play in Pakistan instead? Or better yet, should the ICC or the Big Three (India, England, Australia) step in and fund these kinds of tours? It makes no sense that two teams willing to play can’t, just because one of them can’t afford to host.
Also — with 16 nations actively playing women’s ODIs, is an 8-team World Cup format really fair anymore? Aren’t we holding back the growth of the women’s game by limiting such big stages to just a few?
Would love to hear what others think. Should cricket boards with more resources do more to support situations like this? And what’s a fairer model for global women’s tournaments going forward?
