WPL, Hundred, WBBL given separate windows in new women's FTP

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.

The ICC Women's ODI Championship has been expanded to 11 teams in the new FTP with the addition of Zimbabwe. This 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. Zimbabwe's inclusion 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.

In another addition that has been largely members-driven, teams have scheduled tri-series as part of their preparation for ICC events during this cycle.

"Ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, England will host India and New Zealand for such a three-team T20I tournament while Ireland will host Pakistan and the West Indies," ICC general manager Wasim Khan said. "Sri Lanka and the West Indies are among other Members scheduled to host tri-series, in 2027 and 2028, respectively."

The ICC has introduced a T20 Champions Trophy - to be held in Sri Lanka in 2027 - as part of its strategic plan to have at least one women's global tournament each year. 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.

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).

A total of 15 women's Tests have been included in this cycle, with West Indies set to return to the format after more than 20 years. They host Australia for one Test as part of a multi-format series in March 2026, play England in another at home in April 2027, and will play a Test in South Africa in December 2028.

West Indies last played a Test in 2003-04, against Pakistan, and have only played 12 women's Tests in all. India, meanwhile, will play Australia and South Africa in away Tests in 2026, while also hosting Australia and England later in the cycle.

Having toured Australia for what was only their second women's Test in nearly a decade, South Africa will host Australia for a Test for the first time in March-April 2027. The new FTP concludes in 2029 with the ODI World Cup, the venue for which is yet to be announced.