On International Women's Day, ICC announces expansion of women's game

On International Women’s Day, a year after the resounding success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the expansion of women’s cricket events post the 2023 cycle.   

More teams will compete in both the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup from 2026 onwards as part of the ICC’s long-term commitment to growing the game globally and in a sustainable fashion.     

The revised formats will give more teams the chance to compete on the global stage and importantly provides Members with a window to grow the game domestically and to challenge internationally as the changes take place.   

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The revised structure will be as follows:    

• ICC Women's World Cup 2025 - 8 teams, 31 matches
• ICC Women's World Cup 2029 - 10 teams, 48 matches
• ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 - 10 teams, 23 matches
• ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - 12 teams, 33 matches
• ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2028 - 12 teams, 33 matches
• ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2030 - 12 teams, 33 matches
• ICC Women's T20 Champions Cup 2027 - 6 teams, 16 matches
• ICC Women's T20 Champions Cup 2031 - 6 teams, 16 matches

Manu Sawhney, ICC Chief Executive said, “We have a clear focus and commitment to an ambitious long-term growth plan for the women’s game. We have been building momentum around the women’s game for the last four years investing in global broadcast coverage and marketing to drive fan engagement.  

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“The results speak for themselves with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 attracting record numbers, 1.1 billion video views, making it the most watched women’s cricket event of all time and having 86,174 fans attending the final at the MCG, a record attendance for a women’s cricket event.  

“This decision to expand our women’s events builds on these foundations and allows us to give more member countries greater opportunities to compete on a global stage. This means that more teams will also get the opportunity to compete in the qualification pathways for the respective ICC events over the coming years. I am sure these initiatives will go a long way in helping us achieve our strategic goal of continuing to build strength and depth in the women’s game.”