All you need to know for ICC Women’s Championship 2025-2029
The competition, expanded to 11 teams, will serve as the qualification pathway for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2029.
A competition that’s been a catalyst for the increase in the number of games since its inception in 2014, the ICC Women’s Championship has returned with its fourth edition to serve as a qualification pathway for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2029.
Eleven teams will participate in the competition with the addition of Zimbabwe, with teams competing against eight other teams in the competition cycle. In total, 132 ODIs will be played in 44 series of three matches each with four series at home and four away per team.
The Members will get a chance to club matches of other formats alongside the ODIs in their tours.
Seedings
The eleven teams have been seeded according to their positions in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
India (1)
South Africa (2)
Australia (3)
England (4)
Sri Lanka (5)
New Zealand (6)
Bangladesh (7)
Pakistan (8)
West Indies (9)
Ireland (10)
Zimbabwe (11)
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Format and qualification
Each team will play one series against eight of the other participating teams. Each team will play four series at home and four series away, each consisting of three ODIs.
The top eight teams (the top seven ranked teams plus the host(s), will automatically qualify for the ICC Women's World Cup 2029. The remaining three teams will take part in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2029 Qualifier.
Point System
Teams will be awarded two points for a win, one point for a tie or no result or an abandoned match, with the loser collecting no points.
In the event of teams finishing on equal points at the end of the Championship, the final event rankings will be decided in the following order of priority:
- The team with the greatest number of wins
- If still equal, the team with the highest net run rate in all matches played throughout the Championship
- The team that has earned more points in the head-to-head matches
- If still equal, the team with the highest net run rate in the head-to-head matches.
If the above does not resolve the final event rankings, tied teams will be ordered as per their original seeding as above. In a match declared as no result, run rate is not applicable.
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Tours
| ICC Women's Championship 4 Tours | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Home | Away | ||||||
| AUS | ENG | NZ | BAN | IRE | IND | SA | WI | SL |
| BAN | SA | WI | ZIM | SL | ENG | IND | AUS | PAK |
| ENG | NZ | SA | BAN | IRE | IND | AUS | PAK | SL |
| IND | ENG | AUS | BAN | ZIM | NZ | SA | WI | IRE |
| IRE | IND | NZ | PAK | WI | ENG | AUS | ZIM | SL |
| NZ | IND | SA | ZIM | SL | ENG | AUS | PAK | IRE |
| PAK | ENG | NZ | BAN | ZIM | SA | WI | SL | IRE |
| SA | IND | AUS | PAK | WI | ENG | NZ | BAN | ZIM |
| SL | ENG | AUS | PAK | IRE | NZ | BAN | WI | ZIM |
| WI | IND | AUS | PAK | SL | SA | BAN | ZIM | IRE |
| ZIM | SA | WI | SL | IRE | IND | NZ | BAN | PAK |
What happened in the last IWC cycle?
Australia were winners of the last ICC Women's Championship, finishing a win clear of India with a total of 39 points in 24 matches. The side toured Bangladesh, England, Ireland and New Zealand, and hosted India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies.
In the previous cycle it was the top six teams to gain automatic qualification for the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup, with Australia and India (tournament hosts) joined by England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The White Ferns snuck past Bangladesh on net run rate to finish in the final automatic World Cup qualification spot, sending Bangladesh, West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland to the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
Bangladesh, alongside Pakistan, qualified for the World Cup through the Qualifier.