The ICC has announced a major expansion of its women’s cricket programme, approving two new annual T20I tournaments for Associate Member teams from 2025 through 2028. This strategic move aims to strengthen the competitive structure and help emerging women’s cricket nations build toward the expanded 16-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2030.
The centerpiece of this initiative is the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy, with its inaugural edition scheduled to begin in November 2025 in Thailand. The tournament will feature eight Associate teams: five that already hold ODI status and three others selected based on their T20I rankings as of May 2025. The format will be round-robin, giving all participating sides significant match exposure.
In addition to the Emerging Nations Trophy, the ICC has approved a Women’s Challenge Trophy set to launch in 2026. This tournament will involve Associate teams that did not qualify for the Emerging Nations event, drawn from the ICC’s development regions — Africa, the Americas, Asia, East Asia–Pacific and Europe.
These new competitions are part of the ICC’s broader strategy to back growth at the grassroots and regional levels. Alongside the annual tournaments, the ICC’s Future Tours Programme for 2025-2029 includes many more bilateral and multi-team series for women’s sides, especially among Associates. The board has also updated its women’s rankings schedule and match-minimum requirements to reflect the increase in international fixtures.
By creating structured, regular T20I opportunities for up to 24 Associate teams, the ICC expects these tournaments to accelerate development, deepen talent pools, and give emerging teams a clear pathway into global events. Over time, this is seen as a transformative step for women’s cricket — one that brings meaningful competition, visibility, and investment to nations that historically had limited international opportunities.
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