The 2021 CWI T20 Blaze competition was to act as the West Indies qualifier for the Commonwealth Games - where women's Twenty20 cricket is on the programme - but the event has now been delayed until 2022.

Following the postponement, the Barbados women’s team was confirmed as the representative side from the West Indies as a result of their victory in the 2020 edition.

"We want to congratulate the Barbados women’s team for being named to represent the West Indies in the Commonwealth Games 2022," said Johnny Grave, chief executive of CWI.

"This is an historic occasion as for the first time Women’s Twenty20 cricket will feature at this prestigious global sporting event, which is a great fillip for our sport and great exposure and opportunity for the players.

"We wish them all the very best as they compete for the gold medal, and we know they will continue to do West Indies proud."

The West Indies qualified for Birmingham 2022 through the International Cricket Council (ICC) world rankings, but as the team is a collection of countries it cannot compete at the Games.

One more Caribbean nation could yet qualify through a global qualifier, which will offer the last of the eighth tournament berths.

Cricket has once before featured at the Commonwealth Games, at Kuala Lumpur 1998, when South Africa won a men's 50-over tournament

CWI has committed additional investment into West Indies women's cricket development with two additional training camps.

The first is underway in Antigua before a T20 and one-day international series against South Africa.

A second camp, set to be held in Antigua from October 10 to October 31, has been scheduled to give the team a stronger lead-up to ICC World Cup qualifiers starting in November.

"It has been a challenging period with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at our doorstep, and we have been forced to take the decision to postpone the Women’s T20 Blaze and Women’s CG Insurance Super50 Cup for this year," added Grave.

"We have however been able to invest in several High Performance Camps and international fixtures to the Women’s squad, conducted by Courtney Walsh and his coaching staff.

"These have been hugely beneficial to date and we have identified a core group of players who are the best available in the region for the ICC Women’s World Cup qualifiers who will benefit from the additional resources that CWI is committing to preparing the West Indies Women’s squad."