Daily Times

LONDON: England will host the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, with the International Cricket Council announcing four women’s tournaments between 2024 and 2027.

Bangladesh will host their first women’s tournament when they put on the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup.

The 50-over World Cup will then take place in India in 2025, with Australia looking to defend their title. A T20 Champions Trophy will be hosted in Sri Lanka in February 2027, subject to them qualifying.

It will be the inaugural edition of the Women’s ICC Champions Trophy, with six teams competing across 16 matches. The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will take in place in England in June, with 12 teams playing 33 games, an increase from the 10 set to take part in Bangladesh in 2024 and in South Africa in February 2023.

It was also announced that Lord’s will host the 2023 and 2025 World Test Championship final, while the future tours programme for 2023-2027 was approved and will be published in the next few days. Clare Connor, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) interim chief executive officer, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that we’ve been selected to host the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

“We saw back in 2017 how hosting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup captured people’s imagination and I’ll never forget watching Heather Knight lift the trophy on that magical day at a sold-out Lord’s. “Women’s cricket has developed rapidly since then, from the numbers of girls picking up bats through All Stars and Dynamos, joining clubs, and being able to progress on a pathway to the highest levels of performance.

“We’re seeing right now the positive impact that the Uefa Women’s Euros is having for football, and hosting this global cricket event will give us another incredible opportunity to inspire even more girls to pick up a bat and ball.” Martin Darlow, ECB interim chair, said: “The women’s game is growing at a remarkable pace, and hosting the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will give a further boost to our strategy to make cricket a gender-balanced sport. This is a really exciting opportunity.”

Australia are also the current holders of the Women’s T20 World Cup after beating India in front of 86,174 fans in Melbourne in 2021, England last hosted a women’s tournament in 2017, when Knight’s side beat India at a sold-out Lord’s to win the 50-over World Cup. They last hosted the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2009, with Charlotte Edwards’ side beating New Zealand in the final.

In November last year it was announced that the ECB would host the 2030 Men’s T20 World Cup, alongside Ireland and Scotland.