By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Aug 18: Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has announced that Sarawak will host 10 cricket matches for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup at Borneo Cricket Ground (BCG) in January 2025.
Abdul Karim said as Malaysia will be hosting the sporting event next year and with the growing popularity of cricket, he believed that hosting the matches will boost the sport here.
He added that the Sarawak government has tried to establish the sport in schools in State and hoped to garner more support.
“We hope to have good backers for the sport and the government will be there to support them. I can see cricket is one sport that we can build up.
“It is not an expensive sport and we can build it up in schools as it can go far.”
He revealed this at a press conference at Pusat Media Utama Petra Jaya today to announce the International Cricket Council (ICC) U-19 Women T20 World Cup 2025 organised by Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) and ICC.
Abdul Karim said this is the first international cricket event to be held on the new BCG at Sarawak Rugby & Cricket Ground, and that the government has five months to build up the facilities.
He revealed that delegates from MCA and ICC had inspected the cricket ground and were satisfied.
He added six preliminary matches (group matches) and four Super Six matches would be played at BCG.
Abdul Karim also gave assurance that the Sarawak government will provide the necessary funding to construct the facilities required to host the matches.
“I wish to thank the MCA and ICC for allowing Sarawak to host this event. And this has a huge spin-off for our community and the hospitality industry.”
Earlier MCA president Mohammed Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali highlighted hosting the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Malaysia 2025 is particularly special as it marks the country’s return to hosting an ICC commercial cricket event after 16 years.
He added the last time Malaysia had hosted was during the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup in 2008.
“Now, in 2025, we are excited to welcome the world again, this time for the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Malaysia 2025, with sixteen high profile teams from across the globe which will compete in this prestigious tournament, bringing together the finest young female cricketers,” he said.
This is the second time that Sarawak has hosted a world-class sporting event. The last time was in 1997 when it hosted the Junior Football World Cup. Cricket is a popular sport worldwide, with an estimated 200 million television viewers.
ICC Associate Members Director Mahinda Vallipuram was also in attendance. — DayakDaily
