The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be played in January-February from 2026, while the Hundred (August) and WBBL (November) have been allotted dedicated windows in the new women’s Future Tours Programme for the 2025-29 cycle.
The BCCI moving the WPL has resulted in Cricket Australia pushing back its women’s marquee summer fixtures from mid-January to February-March to avoid a clash with the most lucrative women’s franchise league. The 2024-25 women’s Ashes, which begins on January 12, will be the last international matches Australia will host in January until 2029. The first of Australia’s marquee home series in their new window is a tour by India for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is after the WPL in January-February 2026.
Meanwhile, the ICC Women’s ODI Championship has now been expanded to 11 teams, with Zimbabwe being the latest entrants. This follows the addition of Bangladesh and Ireland to the ongoing cycle that will culminate with next year’s ODI World Cup, which will be held in India in October.
Zimbabwe’s inclusion means all of ICC’s Full Members, except Afghanistan, who don’t field a women’s team, are part of the championship.
The expansion of the Women’s Championship means each team will play four teams at home and four away over a three-year cycle. In their maiden appearance in the upcoming cycle, Zimbabwe will host South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka and will tour India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
As expected, India and Pakistan won’t play bilaterally and will only play each other in world tournaments.
T20 Champions Trophy set for grand entry
Among other decisions, the ICC has introduced a T20 Champions Trophy – to be held in Sri Lanka in 2027 – as part of their strategic plan to have at least one women’s global tournament each year. This new tournament will feature six teams and will include 16 matches. The addition of this tournament to the women’s calendar means there will be three global events – including LA Olympics (August 2028) and T20 World Cup (September 2028) – over a 12-month window.
This takes the total count of all ICC senior women’s events in the new cycle to five, including two T20 World Cups (2026 and 2028) and two ODI World Cups (2025 and 2029) and a Champions Trophy.
The 50-over World Cup will have 10 teams playing 48 matches from 2029 (up from eight teams, and 31 matches, till 2025), the T20 World Cup will be expanded to 12 teams playing a total of 33 matches from 2026 (up from 10 teams, and 23 matches, till 2024).
West Indies set for historic return to women’s Tests
West Indies Women will mark their re-entry into Test cricket after more than 20 years when they host Australia for one match as part of a multi-format series in March 2026. Overall, they’ll play three Tests in the upcoming cycle, including matches against England (at home in April 2027) and South Africa (away in December 2028).
West Indies last played a Test in 2003-04, against Pakistan, and have only played 12 women’s Tests in all. When they host Australia, it’ll be their first Test against them in over 50 years. India, meanwhile, will play Australia and South Africa in away Tests in 2026, while also hosting Australia and England later in the cycle.
Meanwhile, having visited Australia for their first women’s Test in nearly a decade, South Africa will host Australia for a Test for the very first time in March-April 2027. The new FTP concludes in 2029 with the 50-over World Cup, the venue for which is yet to be identified.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
