ICC Women's World Cup 2009 opens in Sydney

Impressive ceremony marks the start of the 16-day tournament which brings the top eight teams and the world’s best players together Cricket Australia Chairman and ICC director Jack Clarke: “We look forward to the tournament showcasing women’s cricket around the world”ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat: “We want a tournament that shows cricket as a great sport with a great spirit”Seven matches to be broadcast to viewers in more than 200 countriesPhotos from the welcome function available through Getty Images; images also available from the ICC FTP siteA ceremony in Sydney on Thursday marked the opening of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009, the first to be held under the auspices of the ICC since its integration with the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) in 2005.

The eight teams taking part – hosts and holders Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – were photographed in the shadow of the world-famous Sydney Opera House.

Players and officials were then ferried to Luna Park, an iconic Sydney location, for an official welcome function, hosted by former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy.

Cricket Australia Chairman and ICC director Jack Clarke launched the tournament with a speech in which he said the ICC Women’s World Cup would have a positive effect on the game both in the host country and around the world.

“Cricket Australia has a proactive females’ cricket strategy and cricket is the fastest-growing sport in Australia,” said Mr Clarke.

“We hope that the staging of this event will further accelerate Cricket Australia’s vision for women’s cricket in this country.

“We look forward to the tournament showcasing women’s cricket around the world with the support of our media partner ESPN STAR Sports which will broadcast matches to viewers around the world in over 200 countries, something we hope will encourage the further growth of women’s cricket globally.

“The ICC wants cricket to be a genuinely global sport and to achieve that goal cricket has to be a genuine global sport for girls and women, we as well as boys and men,” he said.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “This will be an exciting event which will take women’s cricket to new heights and will hopefully produce role models.

“I know the competitors are extremely excited and so is the ICC as it the first time this event is being staged under our umbrella.

“And with seven matches to be broadcast live throughout the world thanks to our broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports, it means it will be the most widely-viewed tournament to date.

“This wide, high-quality coverage will not only provide a great platform for women’s cricket, but it will help the women cricketers to showcase their abilities to the world. The ICC will also use it as a tool to further promote women’s cricket.

“It has only been four years since women’s cricket came under the ICC’s control but its rapid growth since that time can be gauged from the fact that from 15 members playing the sport in 2005, we now have 78 members who are involved in some form of women’s and girls’ cricket.

“And while in 2007 we had 34 women’s ODIs, we had 58 ODIs last year, another example of the increase in the popularity and profile of the sport.

“There have been eight women’s world cups before but this one but the ICC’s involvement will make this different from all the others in terms of profile, and I also believe it will be the most competitive yet.

“With five-times winner Australia defending its title on its home turf, it is not going to be easy for the other seven teams to upset the hosts but this is a world cup so every side will believe it can capture the trophy.

“My message for the competitors is a simple one: go out there, play as hard as you can, enjoy the cricket and Australia’s hospitality, may the best team win and may we have a tournament that shows cricket as a great sport with a great spirit,” added Mr Lorgat.

The ICC Chief Executive thanked the ICC’s commercial and broadcast partners for their continuing support. “I am extremely grateful to our commercial partners, made up of Global Partners Reliance Communications Limited, PepsiCo and LG Electronics, our Official Partners Emirates Airlines, Reebok and Yahoo and our Local Partners for this event, Events New South Wales and Daily Telegraph, as well as our Broadcast Partner ESPN STAR Sports, which is providing coverage of a women’s event that is unprecedented in scale and quality.

“Without their support the ICC would never be able to put on high-quality and memorable events like the ICC Women’s World Cup.”

After the Welcome Function, traditional rivals India and Pakistan will travel to Bowral while two-time former champion England, and Sri Lanka, will depart for Canberra for their opening matches on Saturday.

In Group A on Sunday, Australia will face old foes New Zealand at the North Sydney Oval in the first of the seven matches to be covered live by ESPN STAR Sports while, in the other match of the day, the West Indies will go head to head with qualifier South Africa in Newcastle.

The tournament will see the world’s top eight teams – hosts and holders Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – compete at six venues across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in 16 days from 7-22 March.

The format of the event involves the teams being divided into two groups. Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and South Africa are in Group A while India, England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are in Group B.

The top three sides in each group go forward to the Super Six stage where each side then plays the teams which have qualified from the other group. The top two sides from the Super Six go forward to the final.

The top four teams from the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2013 event to be staged in India. The fifth and sixth-place teams will earn direct spots in the 10-team ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2011 where they will be joined by eight other sides – two each from Africa and Europe, and one each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions – who will qualify through their own regional tournaments.

The tournament has been staged twice each in England (1973 and 1993), India (1978 and 1997) and New Zealand (1982 and 2000) as well as Australia (1988) and South Africa (2005).

Australia has won the tournament five times in 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997 and 2005 while England has won the event in 1973 and 1993, and New Zealand in 2000.

Photos of the Welcome Function are available through Getty Images.

To download free images from the Welcome Function, users need to go to http://iccfiles.sportcentric.org/ , click ICC WWC 09 folder, go to Welcome Function 5 March folder and click on the required image to download.

Images are for editorial use only and are copyright of the ICC.

The event logo and more details on the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 can be found at: http://iccevents.yahoo.com