International cricket in 2021–22

The 2021–22 international cricket season took place from September 2021 to April 2022.[1][2] 29 Tests, 111 One Day Internationals (ODIs), 112 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), 25 Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs), 40 Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), and two women's Test matches were scheduled to be played during this period. Additionally, a number of other T20I/WT20I matches were also scheduled to be played in series involving associate nations.

The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup were played in October 2021, December 2021, and March 2022 respectively, after they were all postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] In the final of the Men's T20 World Cup, Australia beat New Zealand by eight wickets to win their first T20 World Cup.[5] In the final of the Women's World Cup, Australia beat England by 71 runs to win their seventh World Cup.[6]

Qualification for the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup also continued, with four more regional qualifiers taking place.[7] In August 2021, England's planned tour of Bangladesh was postponed until 2023 due to the ongoing Covid situation and fixture congestion.[8][9] Later the same month, Afghanistan's planned ODI series against Pakistan was postponed due to the situation in Afghanistan and the logistics in travelling.[10] In November 2021, Cricket Australia officially postponed the one-off Test match between Australia and Afghanistan, due to the Taliban not supporting women's cricket.[11]

In September 2021, New Zealand arrived in Pakistan to play three ODIs and five T20I matches. It was New Zealand's first tour of Pakistan since 2003.[12] However, on the morning of the first ODI match, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) raised a security alert with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Pakistan Government, which resulted in the entire tour being called off.[13][14] England were also scheduled to tour Pakistan for the first time in sixteen years to play two T20I matches.[15] However, following New Zealand's tour being called off, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that the men's tour and the women's tour to the country in October 2021 had both been cancelled, due to concerns of travelling to the region.[16]

In October, the Zimbabwe women's cricket team played their first ever WODI matches since they were granted WODI status by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in April 2021.[17] They hosted a four-match series against Ireland, with Zimbabwe winning the first fixture.[18]

In late November 2021, a new variant of the COVID-19 virus was discovered in southern Africa.[19] As a result, the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe and the Dutch cricket team's tour of South Africa were called off. Most of the group stage matches in the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier had taken place,[20] with only the first ODI between South Africa and the Netherlands being played.[21] The eighth round of the 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 in Namibia was also called off after only two of the scheduled eight matches had been played.[22] In December 2021, the ODI matches between Pakistan and the West Indies were postponed following multiple cases of COVID-19 in the West Indies team and support staff.[23] Later the same month, Ireland's ODI matches against the United States were also cancelled following positive COVID-19 cases in both teams.[24]

In December 2021 and January 2022, the 72nd Ashes series was played. Australia successfully retained the Ashes by winning the first three Test matches.[25] The fourth Test ended in a draw, with Australia winning the fifth Test by 146 runs to win the series 4–0.[26] Later in January 2022, New Zealand's tour of Australia was postponed due to the uncertainty of the quarantine rules for when the New Zealand team returned home.[27] The following month, Australia's tour of New Zealand was called off due no managed isolation quarantine (MIQ) spots available for the Australian team.[28]

On 5 February 2022, India won the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to win their fifth title.[29] The following day, in their home series against the West Indies, India's senior men's team played their 1,000th ODI match,[30] becoming the first team to play one thousand matches in that format.[31]