Champions Trophy added to Women’s ICC tournaments

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday the launch of the Women’s Champions Trophy, set to take place in 2027.

The new Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle will feature an ICC tournament every year, beginning with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025, followed by the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026. The inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy will occur in 2027, with another ICC Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled for 2028.

In conjunction with this announcement, the ICC also revealed the fixtures for the fourth edition of the ICC Women’s Championship as part of the 2025-29 FTP. This cycle is poised to significantly impact the lineup for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029, which will see an increase to 11 teams, one more than the current 10. This expansion will mark Zimbabwe’s debut in the tournament.

Under the Women’s Championship format, each participating team will compete against eight other sides, maintaining a structure of four home and four away series. A total of 132 One Day Internationals (ODIs) will be played across 44 series, each consisting of three matches.

As Zimbabwe prepares for its first appearance at the Women’s Cricket World Cup, the team will host matches against Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, and will also travel to face New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England, and the West Indies.

Additionally, the ICC announced that member countries have agreed to organize tri-series to help teams prepare for upcoming ICC events. For instance, England will host India and New Zealand in a three-team T20I series prior to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026, while Ireland will welcome Pakistan and the West Indies for similar preparations. Sri Lanka and the West Indies are also slated to host tri-series in 2027 and 2028, with further details to be announced later.