Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand set to begin

The Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand gets under way on Friday, with England looking to defend the trophy they won in 2017.

The hosts play West Indies in Tauranga (01:00 GMT) in the first game of a tournament delayed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

England begin against favourites Australia in Hamilton on Saturday.

There will be live commentary of 20 matches on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.

There will also be video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app, and regular episodes of the No Balls podcast, hosted by England fast bowler Kate Cross and 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley, who is part of the Test Match Special commentary team.

The tournament is taking place against the backdrop of a surge in the Omicron variant in New Zealand, so crowds will be extremely limited, at least for the opening matches.

Eight teams are taking part in the 50-over event, all playing each other across six venues in the group stage before the top four advance to the semi-finals.

The final will be played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 3 April.

The winners will take $1.32m (£0.99m) from a total $3.5m prize fund. The sum for the champions is double what England received in 2017, but still only a third of what their male counterparts received for winning the men's World Cup in 2019.

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'Write us off at your peril'

Despite being the holders, England find themselves in the pack chasing Australia.

Heather Knight's side arrive at the World Cup having been soundly beaten in the Ashes, when they went winless across the multi-format series.

Seven players remain from the squad that won a dramatic final at a sold-out Lord's five years ago. Established names like Sarah Taylor, Laura Marsh, Jenny Gunn and Danielle Hazell have moved on, to be replaced by youngsters Sophia Dunkley, Charlie Dean and Freya Davies.

"It would be a massive achievement to go back-to-back and retain the trophy," said opening batter Tammy Beaumont, who was leading run-scorer and player of the tournament last time.

"The conditions in New Zealand are quite similar to home, so it's a nice one to try to go back-to-back on.

"I feel like a lot of people have written us off. We're still the holders, and you write us off at your peril."

England are coached by former Australia batter Lisa Keightley, herself a World Cup winner in 2005.

"The players and all the coaching staff believe we have what it takes to win a World Cup," said Keightley.

"I'm happy to be where we are and Australia be favourites.

"That becomes an extra pressure. We know they have played pretty consistent cricket over the past two years. They are favourites. They might not say it, but we all know that they are."

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Eight teams are taking part in the Women's Cricket World Cup

Australia the team to beat

Meg Lanning's Australia are one of the strongest teams in all international sport.

Their Ashes triumph came on top of two T20 World Cup victories since the last 50-over tournament, the second of which was in front of 86,174 spectators at the final in Melbourne two years ago.

However, they were beaten by New Zealand in their last warm-up match and will be mindful of the fate they suffered in 2017, when they were stunned in the semi-finals by an inspired India.

England beat India in the heart-stopping final and it remains true that an Indian victory in a global tournament - they have lost in three finals - would give an immeasurable boost to the profile of the women's game in the biggest cricketing nation on the planet.

They once again boast a batting line-up dripping with talent, while legendary captain Mithali Raj and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami will play in their last World Cup.

South Africa are ranked as the second-best team in the world - ahead of England - though the Proteas will have to do without injured captain Dane van Niekerk. New Zealand will have home advantage, but are unpredictable - in the warm-ups their win over Australia came after a loss to Pakistan, the lowest-ranked team in the competition.

Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof is one of the stories of the tournament. She leads her team only six months after giving birth to her baby daughter, who is travelling with the team. Pakistan meet India in Tauranga on Sunday.

Realistically, Pakistan will be looking to avoid bottom spot, alongside Bangladesh, who are playing in their first World Cup.

West Indies boast some dangerous players, but look a shadow of the team that reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2013, then lifted the T20 title in 2016.

Will Covid play a part?

Already delayed, the World Cup arrives in New Zealand as the country deals with its biggest spike in Covid cases since the pandemic began.

All of the teams undertook seven days of hard quarantine on arrival, but are not living in strict 'bubble' conditions.

To plan for squads being hit by a Covid outbreak, the International Cricket Council has ruled that matches can take place if a team has a minimum of nine fit players.

Australia's Ashleigh Gardner tested positive on Thursday and will isolate for 10 days, meaning she will miss the games against England and Pakistan.

With New Zealand under 'red' restrictions, crowds at matches will be capped at 10% of a venue's total capacity.

Tournament organisers are hopeful that an easing of restrictions during the course of the month-long event will lead to increased crowds for the latter stages.

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