HARARE, Zimbabwe (CMC) — West Indies Women could face a logistical nightmare in returning home after the International Cricket Council (ICC) pulled the plug on the Qualifiers here yesterday due to travel restrictions slapped on several African nations as a result of emergence of a new strain of the novel coronavirus.

The Caribbean side were scheduled to face Sri Lanka Women in their second match of the qualifiers — one of yesterday’s three games — but the match was cancelled after a member of the Sri Lanka support staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Based on the tournament regulations, West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan — the three highest ranked teams in the nine-team tournament — will now advance to next year’s showpiece in New Zealand.

Cricket’s governing body was forced to halt the qualifiers after Great Britain, the European Union and the United States moved to suspend travel from several southern African nations, due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Zimbabwe has been included in this list along with South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

“We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel the remainder of this event but with travel restrictions from a number of African countries being imposed at such short notice there was a serious risk that teams would be unable to return home,” said ICC’s head of events, Chris Tetley.

“We have explored a number of options to allow us to complete the event but it isn’t feasible and we will fly the teams out of Zimbabwe as soon as possible.

“Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies will now qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 by virtue of their rankings, whilst Sri Lanka and Ireland will also join them in the next cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship.”

West Indies Women played just one match in the tournament which got underway last week and which was scheduled to end December 4, thrashing minnows Ireland Women by six wickets in Group A.

The Stafanie Taylor-led side are now expected to travel to Dubai on Sunday in an effort to return home and Cricket West Indies said it was “working closely with the ICC to ensure all members of the West Indies squad remain safe, as arrangements are made for their return to their home territories as soon as possible.”

The US Government said non-citizens who had travelled to the identified African nations within the last 14 days would not be allowed entry to the country while the EU urged member states to halt air travel from the affected region until there was a “clear understanding” of the potential impact of the new variant.

“All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed about this new variant and travelers returning from these regions should respect strict quarantine rules,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The UK has temporarily banned flights from the region and also added the affected southern African nations to its red list, meaning all travellers who have visited the region will be forced to quarantine in a hotel for ten days, on arrival.