The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be played in January-February from 2026, while the Hundred (August) and WBBL (November) have been allocated dedicated windows in the new Women’s Future Tours program for the 2025- 29.
With the BCCI moving the WPL, Cricket Australia pushed back its women’s 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 begin on January 12, will be the last international matches Australia will host in January until 2029. The first of Australia’s showpiece home series in their new window is a tour of India for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is after the WPL in January-February 2026.
The ICC Women’s ODI Championship has been expanded to 11 teams in the new FTP with the addition of Zimbabwe. This follows the addition of Bangladesh and Ireland to the ongoing cycle which will culminate with next year’s ODI World Cup in India in October. The inclusion of Zimbabwe means that all full members of the ICC, with the exception of Afghanistan, which does not field a women’s team, are part of the championship.
With the expansion of the Women’s Championship, each country will play four home and four away teams over a three-year cycle. In their first appearance in the next cycle, Zimbabwe will host South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka and tour India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
As expected, India and Pakistan will only face each other in the new FTP’s global tournaments, and not in the bilateral series.
Another largely member-driven addition, teams have scheduled three series as part of their preparation for ICC events this cycle.
“Ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, England will host India and New Zealand for a three-team T20I tournament, while Ireland will host Pakistan and West Indies,” the CEO said. ICC, Wasim Khan. “Sri Lanka and West Indies are among the other members scheduled to host three series, in 2027 and 2028 respectively.”
A Women’s T20 Champions Trophy
The ICC has introduced a T20 Champions Trophy – to be held in Sri Lanka in 2027 – as part of its strategic plan to host at least one women’s world tournament every year. This new tournament will bring together 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 the Los Angeles Olympics (August 2028) and the T20 World Cup (September 2028) – over a 12-month period.
This brings the number of all ICC senior women’s events in the new FTP cycle to five: two T20 World Cups (2026 and 2028), two ODI World Cups (2025 and 2029) and one T20 Champions Trophy in 2027.
The ODI World Cup will have 10 teams playing 48 matches from 2029 (up from eight teams and 31 matches until 2025), the T20 World Cup will be expanded to 12 teams playing 33 matches from 2026 (up from 10 teams and 23 matches until 2024).
West Indies to play Tests after 20 years
A total of 15 women’s Tests have been included in this cycle, with West Indies set to return to the format after more than 20 years. They will host Australia for a Test in a multi-format series in March 2026, face England in another at home in April 2027 and play a Test in South Africa in December 2028.
The West Indies last played a Test in 2003-04, against Pakistan, and have played just 12 women’s Tests in all. India, meanwhile, will face Australia and South Africa in away Tests in 2026, while also hosting Australia and England later in the cycle.
After touring Australia for what was only its second women’s Test in almost a decade, South Africa will host Australia for a Test for the first time in March-April 2027. The new FTP will conclude in 2029 with the ODI World Cup, where it will take place has not yet been announced.
Shashank Kishore is a sub-editor at PK Press Club
