The Women’s ODI World Cup in 2029 will have ten teams instead of the current eight, according to an announcement from the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday.
In the final, which took place at Navi Mumbai on November 2, India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to win its first-ever global title in women’s cricket. The world governing body was encouraged to take the action by the thousands of spectators who flocked to the stadiums to watch the tournament.
“The ICC board, keen to build on the success of the event, agreed to expand the next edition of the tournament to 10 teams (from 8 teams in 2025),” an ICC press release stated.
“Nearly 300,000 fans watched the event in stadia breaking the record for tournament attendance for any women’s cricket event. The tournament also witnessed viewership growth and new records being set for on-screen audiences across the world with nearly 500 million viewers in India,” it further stated.
In light of ICC’s dedication to equitable growth, the Board authorized a nearly 10% increase in the amount of money distributed to its associate members in 2026. These nations will be able to invest more in high-performance structures, local programs, and the growth of cricket in emerging regions thanks to the increase in funding.
Ashley De Silva, Mithali Raj, Amol Muzumdar, Ben Sawyer, Charlotte Edwards, and Sala Stella Siale-Vaea were among the members of the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee appointed by the ICC Board.
In accordance with the ICC’s directive that the suspension of the board due to non-compliance should not adversely affect the commercial and development interests of players in the US national teams, the ICC received its first update on “Project USA,” which was initiated after USA Cricket was suspended.
The project’s main goals are to improve performance pathways for the US national teams by continued participation in ICC Events and to develop an optimized runway for cricket’s inclusion in the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
Cricket will be on the calendar of sports for the 2027 PanAm Games in Lima, Peru, and the 2027 African Games in Cairo, as it has been reintroduced into the Olympic program for LA 2028 and is already a part of the Asian Games.
