West Indies Women return to test cricket
West Indies Women will play test cricket for the first time in more than 20 years when they host Australia for one Test match as part of a multi-format series in March 2026.
The new Women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the 2025-29 cycle has provided 15 test matches in the women’s game after numerous calls from international sides requesting to play the longest format of the game. The Women in Maroon will also play England for the first time since 1979 when they host the English in April 2027 before finishing their red ball cricket in this cycle with a test match in South Africa in December 2028.
The Women in Maroon last played a test match in 2003-2004 against Pakistan and have only played 12 women’s tests in total.
The addition of widespread test matches outside of the Women’s Ashes is just one of the changes made in the new cycle. In an attempt to ensure that there is a global women’s cricket tournament every year, the ICC has introduced a T20 Champions Trophy with the first one being in Sri Lanka in 2027. This new tournament will feature six teams and will comprise 16 matches. The addition of this tournament to the women’s calendar means there will be three global events – including the LA Olympics (August 2028) and T20 World Cup (September 2028) – over a 12-month period.
Zimbabwe will officially join the ICC Women’s ODI Championship, taking the list of competitors to 11 teams. Their inclusion follows the addition of Bangladesh and Ireland to the ongoing cycle that will culminate with next year’s ODI World Cup in India in October. That change means all of ICC’s Full Members except Afghanistan, who don’t field a women’s team, are part of the championship.
With the expansion of the Women’s Championship, each country will play four teams at home and four away over a three-year cycle. In their maiden appearance in the upcoming cycle, Zimbabwe will host South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka and will tour India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan. As expected, India and Pakistan will only play each other in world tournaments in the new FTP, and not in bilateral series.
This takes the count of all ICC senior women’s events 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), the T20 World Cup will be expanded to 12 teams playing 33 matches from 2026 (up from 10 teams and 23 matches till 2024).
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be played in January-February from 2026, while the Hundred (August) and WBBL (November) have been allotted dedicated windows in the new women’s Future Tours Programme for the 2025-29 cycle.
The BCCI moving the WPL has resulted in Cricket Australia pushing back its women’s marquee summer fixtures from mid-January to February-March to avoid a clash with the most lucrative women’s franchise league. The 2024-25 women’s Ashes, which begins on January 12, will be the last international matches Australia will host in January until 2029. The first of Australia’s marquee home series in their new window is a tour by India for one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is after the WPL in January-February 2026.
This FTP cycle concludes in 2029 with the ODI World Cup, the venue for which is yet to be announced. (JC)
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