The ICC has moved the window of the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, to be played in Sri Lanka in 2027, from June-July to a fortnight in February 2027. The ICC approved the change at its quarterly meeting in Ahmedabad over the weekend, though no reason was given for the change.
The eight-team tournament, first announced in 2022, will be played in the T20 format from February 14 to 28, the ICC announced in a press release. As things stand that means a partial overlap with New Zealand’s tour of Australia for six white-ball games, which starts on February 27 and ends March 7. ESPNcricinfo understands that Cricket Australia has been made aware of the change and is considering its options.
The global governing body will also pilot a new version of the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy as a 10-team event this year, which will feature five Full Members and five Associate Members, selected based on rankings. The tournament, played for the first time last year and won by Thailand, was an eight-team event, played by the top Associate sides.
The board also endorsed the qualification pathway for the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup 2028, to be hosted by Pakistan (with India’s games to be played at a neutral venue as part of the hybrid model agreement). Ten of the 12 teams will qualify automatically, including the top eight teams from this month’s event in England, the hosts, and the next highest-ranked teams in the women’s T20I rankings as of July 6, 2026. The remaining two teams will come through regional qualifiers followed by a 10-team global qualifier.
But the ICC said it will ensure that Canada’s players and player programmes will not be impacted.
“In taking this decision, the ICC Board was mindful of the importance of protecting the interests of Canadian players and ensuring they are not disadvantaged by the governance issues affecting the national governing body. Accordingly, Canadian national representative teams will continue to be eligible to participate in ICC events during the period of suspension.
“To support the continued participation and development of the national teams, Cricket Canada will be permitted to access ICC funding through a controlled funding mechanism, under the oversight of ICC management, solely for approved national team programmes.”
The ICC said it will provide Cricket Canada with “reinstatement conditions” to aim for and that the ICC Normalisation Committee will monitor subsequent progress.
Meanwhile, the ICC is continuing to engage with two Full Members who have recently undergone leadership changes in administration and subsequently have attracted scrutiny for potential government interference. In Bangladesh, Mohammed Moosajee of Cricket South Africa and Tavengwa Mukuhlani from Zimbabwe Cricket, will meet with stakeholders to discuss the situation, including the BCB electoral process. In Sri Lanka, the ICC’s deputy chair Imran Khwaja and the BCCI’s Devajit Saikia have already visited to assess the situation.
