Birmingham cricketer Amy Jones says that competing for gold for Team England at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be “a real light at the end of the tunnel” after a period of lockdown which has seen the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup postponed. Jones has more than 90 international caps for England as well as playing county cricket for Warwickshire. She is one of the stars of Birmingham 2022’s latest campaign, celebrating elite athletes with a link to the West Midlands. She will appear on billboards across the region as the build up to the Commonwealth Games continues.
Women’s T20 cricket is part of the Commonwealth Games programme for the first time in Birmingham, and Jones says it’s a dream come true to be able to compete in her home city.
“I think it’s a brilliant opportunity for the city, all eyes will be on Birmingham for that period of time.” Birmingham 2022 will be the first time Jones and her England teammates will have competed as part of a multi-sport team, something she says will add to the occasion: “It’s something that will be extremely special. We’ve never really been part of a bigger team, and being around that whole Team England squad of athletes is something that we’re really looking forward to.”
Jones says the Commonwealth Games will be a chance to raise the profile of women’s sport in general and women’s cricket in particular, and she welcomes the decision to award more medals to women than men at Birmingham 2022. “As a team we always try and engage with people that come and watch us and really just make it an experience that makes them want to come back and watch again. Hopefully that will be the case in 2022.” The current world’s top eight women’s T20 cricket nations are all eligible to compete at the Commonwealth Games (Australia, England, New Zealand, India, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), promising an extremely high quality tournament. England qualify automatically as hosts, with the top six highest ranked sides as of 1st April 2021 also qualifying directly. The eighth spot will go to the winner of a qualifying tournament.
The Birmingham 2022 cricket competition will be held at Edgbaston cricket ground, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. And Jones, who plays for Warwickshire, says that will make the competition even more special.
