The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed major changes for upcoming women’s cricket tournaments, building on the success of the recently concluded Women’s World Cup. The 2029 Women’s World Cup will expand to ten teams, up from the current eight. The tournament will also feature 48 matches, compared to 31 in the 2025 edition.
The ICC first announced plans to expand women’s cricket on International Women’s Day in 2021. After the success of the 2025 World Cup, the governing body reiterated its commitment to growing the women’s game. The ICC highlighted the record-breaking attendance of nearly 300,000 fans at athe stadiums during the last tournament. Television audiences also reached new heights, with nearly 500 million viewers in India alone.
The ICC has also confirmed that the next Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled for next year, will feature 12 teams instead of 10. Additionally, the ICC board ratified appointments to the Women’s Cricket Committee, including Ashley De Silva, Mithali Raj, Amol Muzumdar, Ben Sawyer, Charlotte Edwards, and Sala Stella Siale-Vaea.
Looking ahead to cricket at the Olympics, the ICC confirmed that the sport will return at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. There will be 28 matches across men’s and women’s events, with six teams in each competition. The teams will include the top-ranked side from each of the five regions—Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania—along with host nation USA. A qualifying event will determine the sixth team in each category, though details are yet to be finalized. Matches are set to begin on July 12, 2028, at the Fairgrounds Stadium, around 50 kilometres from Los Angeles.
Cricket will also feature at several upcoming multi-sport events, including the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, the 2027 African Games in Cairo, and the 2027 PanAm Games in Lima. Talks are already underway for cricket’s inclusion in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said “meaningful discussions” have taken place with Brisbane 2032 organizers. Gupta and ICC chair Jay Shah recently met with officials from the International Olympic Committee, LA28, and Brisbane 2032 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss event formats, logistics, and qualification pathways.
In other developments, the ICC announced plans to begin a bidding process for its official mobile cricket game. This project has been part of an ongoing dispute with the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) over NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rights. The WCA claims any ICC game featuring players could breach existing agreements.
Earlier this year, the ICC decided that individual member boards would handle NIL rights directly with players. Although it is unclear how many boards have finalized agreements, estimates suggest at least half of the Full Members have reached deals. The upcoming bidding process follows an Expression of Interest issued in June, as the ICC aims to enhance digital engagement and offer new experiences for global fans.
