ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup

Tournament Administrator: International Cricket Council (ICC)

Cricket Forms: ODI

Current Champion: New Zealand women's national cricket team

Nearest Tournament: 4 March 2022 - 3 April 2022

Format Tournament: Round-robin and Knockout

Numbers Of Team: 8

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup: the main One-Day cricket competition

This tournament in women’s cricket is one of the qualifying stages for the national teams at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. According to their results, the four best teams go to the final part of the main championship; the rest have a chance to qualify through qualification. In the history of the ICC Women’s Championship, which is held in the One Day International format, two tournaments have been played.

ICC Women’s Championship: general information

The structure of the ICC Women’s Championship is similar to the qualifying tournaments for major football events. The national teams meet on certain dates and play matches with each other for two years. However, compared to football, there are several fundamental differences:

• Within the framework of the ICC Women’s Championship, the same teams meet three times. For convenience, these matches are held at short intervals. For example, the first meeting is played in June, and the last one is played in October.
• The winner of the series is determined based on the results of three matches. However, this is not such important data for the final standings as the number of points scored. That is, a victory in the series with a score of 3:0 will bring more points to the overall standings than a success with a score of 2:1.
• If many teams of different levels take part in football in the qualifying cycle, then only the leaders of world cricket play in the ICC Women’s Championship.

At two of the tournaments held, women’s cricket fans could see the same lineups of teams:

• Australia.
• England.
• New Zealand.
• West Indies.
• India.
• South Africa.
• Pakistan.
• Sri Lanka.

ICC Women’s Championship: first game (2014-2016)

As part of the debut ICC Women’s Championship, the first round of the competition was held from June to October 2014. The most interesting was the confrontation between the national teams of South Africa and Sri Lanka. The representatives of the African country confidently won the first match. In the second match, a stubborn struggle ensued, only with a difference of 4 wickets, the representatives of Sri Lanka were better. The decisive match was held again, but the South African team won and won the series. In the second round of the qualifying tournament, viewers could see a repeat of the 2013 final – Australia vs. West Indies. As in the main tournament, the Australian women won the ICC Women’s Championship without giving a match to their rivals.

In the third round, a series involving the teams of Australia and England attracted all the attention. Englishwomen were the leaders then, and they later confirmed their class by becoming world champions in 2017. But in the spring and summer of 2015, representatives of the Green Continent won with a score of 2:1. In the fourth round, Australia beat India 2-1, and England beat South Africa (with the same score).

The fans remembered the fifth round with an interesting meeting between Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealanders won the first match and gained an advantage in the series. The Australians had to try to keep the series for themselves in the end. In the sixth round, the meeting between the West Indies and England attracted the most attention. The first match ended in favor of the English women. Then the West Indies team won easily. Representatives of the Foggy Albion adequately responded in the third match, winning it with a difference of 112 runs. The series between Pakistan and India was not played in this round. The second team was credited with an automatic defeat due to non-appearance.

According to the results of the tournament, the table looked like this:

Team Points

1. Australia 36.
2. England 29.
3. New Zealand 26
4. West Indies 22
5. India 19.
6. South Africa 17.
7. Pakistan 14.
8. Sri Lanka 5.

The first four teams went to the Women’s Cricket World Cup, and the last four continued to fight for entry to the tournament.

ICC Women’s Championship: second game (2017-2020)

In the second game, the organizers initially wanted to change the selection system. It was planned that three teams and the future hosts (New Zealand) would go directly to the World Cup, and the rest of the teams would go to the qualification. Later the decision was changed. As before, four national teams took place at the Women’s Cricket World Cup after seven rounds.

In the first round, there was no fight only in the series between the West Indies and Sri Lanka (the team from the American continent confidently won). In all the others, the score was 2:1. Especially intriguing was the meeting of Englishwomen and Australians. However, the Australians were a little better again. In the second round, the most interesting was the confrontation between England and South Africa. The representatives of the African country in the fight won the first match. The Englishwomen easily took the second, and in the third, everything was decided in the end. Still, the Englishwomen turned out to be a little better.

In the third round of the ICC Women’s Championship, only the Australians easily beat the Pakistan national team (3-0). England defeated New Zealand, India – Sri Lanka (in both matches, the score was 2:1). In South Africa and Pakistan meeting, a draw was recorded in one of the matches, so the teams ended in a draw (1:1). In the fourth round, the most interesting was the series between India and England. The Asians won two matches, and the first one very easily. The third match could also remain for the Indian national team, but the representatives of the Foggy Albion gathered and reduced the gap in the score.

In the fifth round, the British beat the Sri Lankan team (3-0), depriving it of the chance to qualify directly for the Women’s Cricket World Cup. In the sixth round, the Australian national team secured participation in the World Cup, which was better than Sri Lanka. The finish of the second ICC Women’s Championship game was blurred due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was impossible to hold two meetings: South Africa — Australia and Sri Lanka — New Zealand. The points between the teams were divided. However, this did not affect the final layouts. The second ICC Women’s Championship in a row remained for the Australians.

According to the results of the tournament, the table looked like this:

Team Points

1. Australia 37.
2. England 29.
3. South Africa 25
4. India 23
5. Pakistan 19.
6. New Zealand 17.
7. West Indies 13.
8. Sri Lanka 5

ICC Women’s Championship: interesting facts

It was at the ICC Women’s Championship in the One Day International format that two balls were used for the first time. This is the most remarkable fact about this tournament.

The next ICC Women’s Championship dates are still unknown, but it will definitely take place after the next World Cup.