Champions Trophy added to Women's ICC tournaments

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday, announced the introduction of the Women’s Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in 2027.

The upcoming FTP cycle will feature an ICC tournament each year, commencing with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025, followed by ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026, the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in 2027 and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028.

The apex cricketing body also unveiled the 2025-29 Future Tour Programme (FTP), outlining the fixtures of the fourth edition of the ICC Women’s Championship.

The recently-unveiled cycle is set to shape the lineup of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029, which will be expanded to 11 teams, one more than the current number of teams (10).

As a result, Zimbabwe will make their debut in the tournament.

In the Women’s Championship, each team will face eight other sides, maintaining the format of four home and four away series. A total of 132 ODIs will be played across 44 series, each comprised of three matches.

Ahead of their maiden appearance at the Women’s Cricket World Cup, Zimbabwe will host Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and South Africa and will travel to New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England and West Indies.

The apex cricketing body further shared that the members have mutually agreed to schedule tri-series in a bid to prepare for the ICC events.

Consequently, England will host India and New Zealand in a three-team T20I series ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, while Ireland will welcome Pakistan and West Indies.

Sri Lanka and West Indies will also host tri-series in 2027 and 2028, the details of which will be announced in due course.