ICC Women's Championship

ICC Women's Championship
AdministratorInternational Cricket Council (ICC)
FormatWODI
First edition2014–16
Latest edition2022–25
Number of teams11
Current champion Australia (2nd title)
Most successful Australia (2 titles)
Tournaments

The ICC Women's Championship (IWC) is an international cricket tournament used to determine qualification for the Women's Cricket World Cup.[1] The first two tournaments were contested between the top eight teams of the ICC Women's Rankings. The first edition was the 2014–16 ICC Women's Championship, which started in April 2014 and was concluded in November 2016. Australia were the winners of the inaugural tournament.[2] The second edition of the tournament started in October 2017, with the top four teams automatically qualifying for the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup.[3]

In September 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that they were exploring the option to expand the IWC to all ten teams, therefore including Bangladesh and Ireland in future editions of the competition.[4][5] In August 2021, the ICC confirmed that the three qualifiers from the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament and the next two best placed teams would qualify for the next IWC cycle.[6][7] However, in November 2021, the qualifier tournament was called off midway through,[8] due to the discovery of a new variant of COVID-19 in Southern Africa.[9] Therefore, Bangladesh and Ireland joined the IWC for the 2022–25 cycle,[10] based on their ODI rankings.[11]

In August 2024, the ICC announced that Zimbabwe will be included in the 2025–2029 cycle of the Championship.[12][13]

  1. ^ "About the ICC Women's Championship". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Australia win Women's Championship, qualify for World Cup". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Revised financial model passed and new constitution agreed upon". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Bangladesh, Ireland could feature in next Women's Championship cycle". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Tigresses could feature in next Women's Championship cycle". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 25 September 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Zimbabwe to host ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Women's ODI World Cup qualifier shifted from Sri Lanka to Zimbabwe; to begin in November". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Women's World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe called off following concerns over new Covid-19 variant". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  9. ^ "ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier called off; Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies to qualify for New Zealand 2022". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  10. ^ "ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 called off". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  11. ^ "ICC Women's CWC Qualifier in Zimbabwe abandoned amid Covid-related uncertainty". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Zimbabwe to be included in ICC Women's ODI Championship". Female Cricket. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Blockbuster Women's Future Tours Programme (FTP) announced for 2025-29". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 4 November 2024.