What is the ICC Women’s Championship?

Just like the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, female cricketers also have their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup every 4 years. To qualify for this pinnacle event, teams have to play in the ICC Women’s Championship.

Now what is this championship? How many teams will qualify? What is the format?

Well, the questions are plenty, and I will answer all of them in this article.

So, let’s get to know about the ICC Women’s Championship in detail.

The Inception of the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) kicked off the inaugural IWC in April 2014 with 8 participating teams. As I mentioned earlier, the IWC’s purpose is to determine the qualification for the Women’s World Cup which, takes place after the IWC cycle ends. 

The first cycle of the IWC began in April 2014 and concluded in November 2016. 8 teams — Australia, England, New Zealand, India, South Africa, the West Indies, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — participated in the championship, with Australia emerging as the winner.

Similarly, the second cycle of the championship ran from October 2017 to April 2020, with Australia winning the competition consecutively. The hosts of the 2022 edition, New Zealand, qualified for the event along with the top 4 teams in the IWC.

Also Read | The History of Women’s Cricket

The Expansion of IWC and Qualification Process

With the third cycle, which started in June 2022, the ICC included 2 more teams — Bangladesh and Ireland — in the IWC, making it a 10-team competition.

After the end of the cycle, the top 5 teams on the table and the 2025 edition hosts, India, will directly qualify for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. The bottom 4 teams, on the other hand, will further play in the Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Then the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier will determine the remaining 2 teams that will qualify for the main event.

Also Read | The History of the Women’s Ashes

Format of ICC Women’s Championship

With the expansion of the competition, each team will play 8 ODI series consisting of 3 matches each, with 4 home and 4 away series over the next three years.

Teams will earn 2 points for winning a match, while in cases of a tie or no result, both teams will get 1 point each. And teams will get no points if they lose a match.

The team with the most points at the end of the cycle is declared the winner of the ICC Women’s Championship.