Zimbabwe Women set to join ICC Women's Championship: Report

The ICC Women's Championship is set for another expansion, with the inclusion of Zimbabwe Women as the 11th team in the next edition. 

According to a recent Cricbuzz report, the 2026-2029 ICC Women's Championship is set to run with 11 teams after the inclusion of Zimbabwe Women. 

The ICC Women's Championship is a WODI-format multi-year competition where teams fight to earn direct qualification for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. 

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First two ICC Women's Championships

The ICC Women’s Championship started in 2014 and ran between 2014 and 2016 with eight teams. Those eight participating teams were Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. The eight teams battled in the three-match WODI series either at home or away venues (the India vs Pakistan series was not played and Pakistan Women were awarded six points), where the top three teams in the final points table and the World Cup hosts directly qualified for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017.

The same eight teams also participated in the 2017-2020 ICC Women’s Championship, and a similar competition format was followed. However, the top four teams in the final points table and the World Cup hosts directly qualified for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.

In both the first two editions, the Australian women won the ICC Women’s Championship titles. 

Ongoing ICC Women's Championship

The 2022–2025 ICC Women's Championship is currently running with ten teams after the inclusion of Bangladesh Women and Ireland Women. Each team is now playing eight three-match WODI series (four series at home and four series at away). At the end of this championship, the top five teams and the World Cup hosts will directly qualify for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025. 

The next ICC Women's Championship will run between 2026 and 2029. It will be the direct qualification pathway for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2029. With the possible inclusion of Zimbabwe Women, the 2026-2029 ICC Women's Championship is set to run with 11 teams. 

As Afghanistan doesn’t field the women’s team, all the other ICC Full Members are set to participate in the 2026-2029 ICC Women’s Championship. 

Zimbabwe Women earned WODI status in 2021. Currently, they are in the 14th position in the Women’s ODI rankings, behind Thailand (9), Scotland (12), and the Netherlands (13).