DAY 1 of a historic inaugural Commonwealth Games women’s cricket tournament is upon us, with eight teams battling it out for that historic gold medal.

Although it is the first time we have seen women’s cricket on the program at the Commonwealth Games, it is not the first time cricket has made an appearance, with a 50-over men’s tournament on the program back in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. There are a lot of potential uncertainties heading into this tournament. Unlike the other sports on the program in Birmingham, there is no previous Commonwealth Games tournament, no reigning champion, none of that.

The only thing to go off to try and get a gauge of who the favourites might be is the last T20 World Cup, which would suggest the two favourites are Australia and India, followed by the English and South Africans. But that does not take into account conditions, or the fact that we have a brand new country – Barbados – that was not at the last World Cup.

The tournament sees the eight competing countries split into two pools, A and B. Group A seems the more straightforward group in terms of who is expected to progress to the knockout stage, but it is Group B which is the more intriguing of the pair in terms of which teams will finish in the top two.

It is widely expected that Australia and India will be the two teams to progress out of Group A, with the reigning World Cup finalists a class above both Pakistan and India. However, Group B is less straightforward. Many expect the English to be the ones that top the group, but whether it is New Zealand or South Africa that takes that second spot remains to be seen.

Day 1 of competition sees all four Group A members in action, with the Aussies taking on Barbados then the highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan will follow afterwards. Group B then take centre stage tomorrow, with the New Zealanders taking on South Africa, and the English to take on the Sri Lankans.

You can read the full tournament schedule here and check out below all of the individual country previews of the teams competing at Birmingham 2022.

Group A Previews

Australia

Barbados

India

Pakistan

Group B Previews

England

New Zealand

South Africa

Sri Lanka