Former England women’s cricketer Kate Cross has clarified her and Alex Hartley’s stance on the alleged International Cricket Council (ICC) bias towards Team India over the scheduling of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semifinals.
Before Team India’s final group stage fixture against the six-time champions Australia, Cross and Hartley discussed the pre-tournament special provision implemented by the governing body, which guaranteed that the Women in Blue, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, would qualify for the semi-final on Tuesday in a pre-time broadcast slot if they qualified, regardless of standing.
As Team India was knocked out of the tournament after defeat to Australia, the pre-tournament special provision became a moot point, and the tournament schedule defaulted to its standard format. Kate Cross called it ‘mental’ and ‘absolutely ridiculous’ while discussing the preferential treatment of Team India by the ICC.
Kate Cross Clarifies Stance After Receiving Death Threats
Kate Cross’s remarks sparked fiery criticism from Indian cricket fans, and the backlash escalated to extreme levels, with the English cricketer stating that she and co-host Alex Hartley received severe online abuse and even death threats across social media platforms.
Speaking on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, Cross clarified that their initial debate was centered purely on the principle of tournament scheduling and broadcast policies rather than specifically targeting Team India and the BCCI.
“That post received 450 comments. There seems to have been some confusion because I don’t think what we said warranted the death threats and abuse we received.” Cross said.
“We would like to clarify that this has nothing to do with India. According to the ICC, the scheduling was done to optimise viewership and attendance in the UK while also considering the global audience,” he added.
With Team India failing to advance past the group stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, which would have placed them in the Tuesday prime-time slot, it was never triggered, allowing the competition to proceed via the standard knockout bracket.
Instead, Australia and the West Indies will lock horns in the first semifinal on Tuesday, while hosts England take on South Africa in the second semifinal on Thursday, bringing the tournament to an exciting climax.
Why were Team India Matches Scheduled at 7 PM?
The Women in Blue, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, were allotted the prime-time slot throughout the group stage of the tournament. Since the matches were taking place in England, which is the host of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, the 7:00 PM local start time was strategically chosen to align with prime-time viewing hours in India.
Due to the time difference between the UK and India, the Women in Blue matches were scheduled in the afternoon in England so they could be broadcast during India’s 7:00 PM prime-time slot. After Team India’s success at the Women’s ODI World Cup last year, the ICC was keen to maintain broadcast momentum and capture maximum subcontinental viewership for the shortest format.
India’s five group stage matches were scheduled as per Indian timing rather than the host nation’s local viewing preferences, drawing considerable debate over prioritizing commercial broadcasting interests over standard tournament protocols.
Meanwhile, Team India finished third in Group A with three wins and two losses, accumulating six points from five outings, missing out on a semi-final berth behind table-toppers Australia and second-placed South Africa, which ultimately brought an early end to their campaign in the marquee event.