The next edition of the ICC Women’s Championship is set to expand from 10 to 11 teams, with Zimbabwe Women joining the other Full Member sides in the 2026-29 edition.
Earlier this month, the ICC confirmed to the relevant member boards that the multi-year Women’s ODI competition, which serves as a direct qualification pathway for the ICC Women’s World Cup, would once again expand, following the inclusion of Ireland and Bangladesh for the ongoing 2022-25 cycle.
Introduced in 2014, the Women’s Championship began as an 8-team competition featuring Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.
The first two cycles of the competition served as qualifying pathways for the 2017 and 2022 Women’s World Cups, with Australia emerging as the champions in both editions.
During these cycles, the eight teams contested a series of 3-match ODI series, playing against each opponent either at home or away over 2.5 years.
The top three finishers, along with the World Cup hosts, secured direct qualification for the World Cup, although the fixtures between Pakistan and India did not take place.
The 2022-25 cycle saw the competition expand to ten teams, with Ireland and Bangladesh promoted as the 9th and 10th ranked sides.
In the current edition, the teams contest eight series either at home or away, with the top five finishers plus hosts India set to qualify for the 2025 World Cup.
The remaining four sides will compete against the next best-ranked teams on the women’s ODI ranking table (currently Thailand and Scotland) at the 2025 Women’s World Cup Qualifier to vie for the remaining two qualification spots.
The inclusion of Zimbabwe for the upcoming cycle means that all of the ICC’s Full Members, except Afghanistan, which does not field a women’s team, will feature in the next edition of the league.
Zimbabwe, awarded WODI status in 2021, are currently ranked 14th on the Women’s ODI table, behind three of the five Associate WODI teams—Netherlands (13th), Scotland (12th), and Thailand (9th).
However, strategic and financial considerations related to medium-term scheduling, fixture certainty, and confidence that Zimbabwe, as a Full Member, would be able to meet touring and hosting obligations, influenced the decision to elevate them over Associate sides.
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