Women’s T20 World Cup: ICC Announces Expansion Of Teams

The International Cricket Council (ICC) On Monday announced that the Women’s T20 World Cup will expand to 16 teams in 2030. Additionally, USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have been officially notified.

“The ICC Board has approved an expansion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 16 teams in 2030, aligning with its ongoing commitment to equity between the men’s and women’s games,” ICC said in an statement while announcing the increase in the number of teams.

In the first edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2009, eight teams competed, with England taking the title. The tournament’s size increased to ten teams and will grow to 12 in 2026, which will be hosted by England, eventually expanding to 16 teams by 2030.

The ICC has announced that the qualification deadline for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will be October 31 of this year. The organization also stated that USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have been formally notified and given 12 months to address their non-compliance with ICC Membership Criteria due to inadequate governance and administrative structures.

The Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) confirmed the allocation of eight regional qualifying spots for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Under the new structure, two teams will qualify from Africa and Europe, one from the Americas, and three from a combined Asia and East Asia-Pacific (EAP) regional final. Previously, Asia had two spots, and EAP had one.

Additionally, the ICC Board announced a review of the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, led by directors Roger Twose, Lawson Naidoo, and Imran Khwaja, who will report back later in the year.

At the ICC Annual Conference, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the CEC approved the appointment of Paul Reiffel as an Elite Panel Umpire on the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee, and Richie Richardson was confirmed as an Elite Panel Referee. The conference, which concluded on Monday, focused on “Capitalizing on the Olympic Opportunity” in light of cricket’s inclusion in the LA28 Games, and took place just before the Paris 2024 Olympics.