Women's Cricket World Cup: 100-day countdown launched in Christchurch

Canterbury cricket legend Sir Richard Hadlee says he is confident the Women's Cricket World Cup will go ahead without a hitch in March, despite the threat of Covid hanging over the event.

The month-long tournament is set to get under way 100 days from now, with matches to be played in Christchurch, Auckland, Mount Maunganui, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.

Sir Richard, former world cup winner (2000) Debbie Hockley and White Ferns vice-captain Amy Satterthwaite launched the 100-day countdown to the tournament at Christchurch Airport on Wednesday morning, saying they are all confident it will be a success - both on and off the pitch.

Satterthwaite said she would love to see spectators and supporters turn up in droves: "It’s an awesome opportunity for us to showcase female cricket in New Zealand, especially in Canterbury as we have a rich history of successful women’s cricket teams from here," she said.

"The best cricketers in the world will be on show and it doesn’t get much better than that."

Satterthwaite said the next 100 days will fly past as the White Ferns have a lot of work to do as they prepare to face the world’s best teams while also playing in local and national competitions.

"We have a lot of hard work to do in the next 100 days with a lot of fine-tuning and make sure we are ready to go in the first match of the world cup,” she said.

The White Ferns will open the tournament at the Bay Oval in Tauranga on March 4 against an as yet unknown opponent. Hagley Oval will host four games, including a semi-final on March 31 and the final on April 3. The full match schedule can be found here.

Sir Richard says he wants Christchurch cricket fans to "turn up and come and see a wonderful spectacle of cricket".