Bangladesh and Ireland added to ICC Women’s Championship

On the back of the success of the 2014-16 and 2017-20 editions of the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC), two new teams – Bangladesh and Ireland – have been added to the mix. The two nations join Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies to make it a ten-team competition. 

These teams will now battle in pursuit of automatic qualification for the 2025 ICC Women's World Cup. Each team will play eight three-match series, four at home and four away, with the top-five teams and the host qualify directly for the World Cup. The rest of the teams will then fight it out in the Qualifiers to reach the next stage. 

“This expansion to 10 teams is part of the ICC’s commitment to accelerate the growth of the women’s game and continue to drive competitiveness in the field,” read ICC’s statement on their website. 

The ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 will begin with the series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 1-5 June 2022 in Karachi. Australia will aim to defend their title, having won the previous two cycles of the IWC. 

Alongside that, as part of the revamped ICC CWC pathway, five women associate teams – Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand and the USA – have been given immediate ODI status with an eye on the future of the sport. 

"Increasing the number of teams in the ICC Women’s Championship and awarding ODI status to five additional teams will help us to accelerate the growth of the women’s game," said ICC CEO Geoff Allardice. 

"More teams playing more regularly creates a more competitive environment as we saw at the recent ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand,” he added.