Women's Cricket Sets New Horizons with Expanded Schedule and Dedicated Tournaments in 2025-29 FTP
In a significant boost for women’s cricket, the ICC has unveiled the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2025-29, featuring dedicated windows for major franchise leagues, expanded international tournaments, and the introduction of new formats.
The Women's Premier League (WPL), now set for January-February from 2026, will lead the women’s cricket calendar, followed by The Hundred in August and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in November. This alignment grants each league its own exclusive timeframe, enabling greater focus and viewership. Cricket Australia has shifted its major summer matches to February-March to avoid overlapping with the WPL, marking a notable adjustment to accommodate the growing women's cricket scene.
The ICC Women's Championship has also grown, now including 11 teams, with Zimbabwe joining for the upcoming cycle. This expansion is a step forward for international women’s cricket, allowing more teams to compete in bilateral series. Zimbabwe’s debut cycle includes series against major teams such as South Africa and West Indies at home, with tours to India, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
A significant addition to the calendar is the T20 Champions Trophy, scheduled for Sri Lanka in 2027, featuring six teams competing in 16 matches. This marks the ICC's commitment to an annual global event for women’s cricket. Alongside the T20 Champions Trophy, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (with cricket debuting in August) and the T20 World Cup in September will create an unprecedented 12-month stretch of major events for women’s cricket.
The ICC has also expanded the formats for major tournaments. The 50-over World Cup will feature 10 teams and 48 matches from 2029, while the T20 World Cup will see 12 teams compete in 33 matches starting from 2026. This increase aims to provide more international experience and competition for emerging women’s cricketing nations.
The FTP also sees the West Indies Women's team re-enter Test cricket after over two decades, hosting Australia for a Test match in March 2026 as part of a multi-format series. This will be followed by Test series against England (2027) and South Africa (2028). West Indies last played a women’s Test in 2003-04, making their return to the format historic. India, meanwhile, will play both home and away Tests, with matches scheduled against Australia, England, and South Africa.
The 2025-29 FTP cycle concludes with the expanded 50-over World Cup, underscoring the ICC's commitment to developing and growing women’s cricket worldwide.
