ICC promptly diverts Champions Trophy tour away from PoK cities after BCCI’s objections
The original tour schedule included cities like Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad, which fall in the PoK region, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the expansion of women’s events after the 2023 cycle. More teams will participate in the 50-over Women’s World Cup and the Women’s T20 World Cup from 2026.
According to the revised structure, the 2029 Women’s World Cup will be expanded to 10 teams playing 48 matches from the present format of eight teams playing 31 matches. The present format will continue in the 2025 Women’s World Cup.
Four Women’s T20 World Cup tournaments will be held from 2024 to 2030. While the 2024 tournament will follow the present format of 10 teams playing 24 matches, it will be expanded to 12 teams playing 33 matches from 2026.
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The ICC also plans to hold two Women’s T20 Champions Cup tournaments in 2027 and 2031. Six teams will participate and the tournaments will consist of 16 matches.
“We have a clear focus and commitment to an ambitious long-term growth plan for the women’s game. We have been building momentum around the women’s game for the last four years investing in global broadcast coverage and marketing to drive fan engagement,” said ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney.
“The results speak for themselves with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 attracting record numbers, 1.1 billion video views, making it the most watched women’s cricket event of all time and having 86,174 fans attending the final at the MCG, a record attendance for a women’s cricket event,” he further said.
The ICC said that the expansion is part of its long-term commitment “to growing the game globally and in a sustainable fashion”.
“This decision to expand our women’s events builds on these foundations and allows us to give more member countries greater opportunities to compete on a global stage. This means that more teams will also get the opportunity to compete in the qualification pathways for the respective ICC events over the coming years. I am sure these initiatives will go a long way in helping us achieve our strategic goal of continuing to build strength and depth in the women’s game,” said Sawhney.
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