Women’s Cricket Gets Raise: Separate Windows for WPL, Hundred, WBBL
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be played in January- February of 2026, while the Hundred (August) and WBBL (November) have been designated committed windows in the new Women’s Future tour Program for the 2025-29 cycle.
The BCCI moving the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has brought about Cricket Australia pushing back its ladies’ marquee summer installations from mid-January to February-March to stay away from a conflict with the most worthwhile women’s franchise league.
The 2024-25 ladies’ Remains, which starts on January 12, will be the last International matches Australia will have in January until 2029. The first of Australia’s marquee home series in their new window is a visit by India for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is after the WPL in January-February 2026.
The ICC Women’s ODI Championship has been extended to 11 teams in the new FTP with the accretion of Zimbabwe. This follows the accretion of Bangladesh and Ireland to the continuous cycle that will finish with the following year’s ODI World Cup in India in October. All of Zimbabwe’s incorporation implies ICC’s Full Member with the exception of Afghanistan, which doesn’t handle a ladies’ group, is important for the championship.
With the development of the WPL of Women’s Championship, every country will play four teams at home and four away over a three-year cycle. In their lady appearance in the impending cycle, Zimbabwe will have South Africa, West Indies, Ireland, and Sri Lanka and will visit India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
True to form, India and Pakistan will just play each other in world tournaments in the new FTP, and not in bilateral series.
In another expansion that has been generally members-driven, teams have planned tri-series as a feature of their groundwork for ICC occasions during this cycle.
“In front of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, England will host India and New Zealand for such a three-team T20I competition while Ireland will have Pakistan and the West Indies,” ICC head supervisor Wasim Khan said. “Sri Lanka and the West Indies are among different members planned to host tri-series, in 2027 and 2028, accordingly.”
A T20 Champions Trophy for women
The ICC has presented a T20 Champions Trophy – to be held in Sri Lanka in 2027 – as a component of its brilliant plan to have at least one women’s worldwide tournament every year. This new tournament will highlight six teams and will involve 16 matches. The expansion of this competition to the women’s schedule implies there will be three worldwide occasions – including the LA Olympics (August 2028) and T20 World Cup (September 2028) – more than a year time span.
This takes the count of all ICC senior women’s occasions in the new FTP cycle to five: two T20 World Cups (2026 and 2028), two ODI World Cups (2025 and 2029), and a 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, till 2025), and the T20 World Cup will be extended to 12 teams playing 33 matches from 2026 (up from 10 teams and 23 matches till 2024).
West Indies to play Tests after 20 years
A sum of 15 women’s Tests have been remembered for this cycle, with West Indies set to get back to the format after over 20 years. They have Australia for one Test as a component of a multi-format series in March 2026, play England in one other at home in April 2027, and will play a Test in South Africa in December 2028.
West Indies last played a Test in 2003-04, against Pakistan, and have just played 12 women’s Tests taking in all. India, in the meantime, will play Australia and South Africa in away Tests in 2026, while additionally facilitating Australia and England later in the cycle.
Having visited Australia for what was just their subsequent women’s Test in almost 10 years, South Africa will have Australia for a Test for the first time in March- April 2027. The new FTP closes in 2029 with the ODI World Cup, the scene for which is yet to be reported.
