New Delhi: The Women’s T20 World Cup will expand to 16 teams for the 2030 edition of the tournament and will also be seeing a fair expansion to become a 12-nation competition for the 2026 edition, as announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC). With its long-term strategic commitment to gender equality, the ICC is on the path to equalise the men’s and women’s forms of the game and has already started taking the steps.
The tournament had notably started with just eight teams in 2009 which was then upgraded to 10 teams from the 2014 edition. The tournament will also be hosted this year, in Bangladesh in October, where 10 nations will be a part of the competition. Australia currently reign the competition with a record six titles and will aim for a fourth successive trophy win.
Meanwhile, the expansion can benefit teams like Ireland and Scotland as the former qualified in 2023 but haven’t made it to this year’s competition, while Scotland couldn’t qualify last year but will compete this year.
Women’s World Cup 2026
The 2026 edition will be hosted by England for the first time since 2009, and the hosting rights for the 2030 competition are yet to be awarded by the cricket governing body. The Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) also confirmed the allocation of the eight regional qualifying spots for the 2026 T20 showpiece. This would see two teams qualifying from Africa and Europe, one qualifying from the Americas, and three getting qualification from a combined Asia and EAP regional final
The committee also confirmed the cut-off date for qualification for the 2026 women’s T20 World Cup qualifier as October 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, the ICC also put USA Cricket and Cricket Chile formally on notice due to their “non-compliance with ICC membership criteria.” “USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have been formally put on notice and have 12 months to rectify their current non-compliance with the ICC Membership Criteria. Neither Member is considered to have in place a fit for purpose detailed governance and administrative structure and systems,” an ICC statement read.
With its long-term strategic commitment to gender equality, the ICC confirmed the expansion of the women’s T20 World Cup in 2030 from 12 to 16 teams. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
