The Indian women's cricket team commenced its first tour to the African continent when it flew into Johannesburg on Monday March 4. The tour is, in fact, the first official visit by any international women's team to South Africa since 1972.
Another blow has been dealt to the future of Test cricket in the women's game, with the decision to scrap the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan which was scheduled to begin this Sunday.
At the request of the Pakistan Women's Cricket Control Association (PWCCA), the four-day Test, which was to have commenced at the Colts Ground, Colombo, on January 20, has been converted to three limited-over matches, to be played on Sunday 20, Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 January.
Pakistan will play one Test and three one-day internationals in Sri Lanka in January following the cancellation of the West Indies' tour.
The West Indies Women's Cricket Federation decided last month that they would not proceed with their tour of Sri Lanka and Pakistan because of security concerns related to geopolitical instability in the south Asian region.
The West Indies' plans for their first international tour since the 1997 Women's World Cup were shelved during November. The West Indies Women's Cricket Federation cancelled its tour of Sri Lanka, scheduled for January, and abandoned tentative plans for a visit to Pakistan immediately afterwards.
The war in Afghanistan, and broader concerns about security in Sri Lanka and globally, were given as the reasons for the cancellation of the tour. Pakistan have since agreed to play the tour dates in Sri Lanka vacated by the West Indians.
The New Zealand White Ferns tour of India set down for late November and December has been cancelled due to security concerns.
It's always the umpire's fault.