The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its new plan to grow women’s cricket around the world.
At its four-day annual conference in Colombo this week, the ICC Board said it has committed to expanding the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup to 16 teams by the 2030 tournament.
The World Cup for the women’s T20 game began in 2009 with just eight teams, including Australia. It wasn’t until 2016 that the tournament expanded to 10 teams.
This year, 10 teams will compete at the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup, held in Bangladesh in October. But by the next tournament in 2026 – to be held in England – the ICC Board are expanding the competition to 12 teams.
The ICC Board said the gradual expansion to 16 teams by 2030 is a continuation of the organisation’s commitment to equity in cricket between both the men’s and the women’s games.
The 2024 ICC T20 Women’s World Cup begins on October 3. Australia were victorious in the last tournament and will be defending their title as world champions in the T20 format of cricket.
Growth in the game
Women’s cricket isn’t just growing internationally – it’s also being developed at home. Last month, Cricket Australia unveiled its new action plan to expand the game especially in the T20 format, which is becoming increasingly popular around the country.
Cricket Australia plans to boost the total revenue of women’s cricket to $121 million over the next decade. This is an increase of $100 million.
In its action plan, Cricket Australia said the average earnings of a cricket player in the women’s game will soon be more than $163,000 for the 2024-25 cricket season. That’s an 8 per cent increase from the 2023-24 season’s average earnings, or $12,303.
The WBBL will also kick off one week after the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup. Forty matches have been scheduled, the same number of matches played in the men’s game.
In terms of management, Cricket Australia wants to achieve 40 per cent female representation across executives, boards and community cricket roles.
Last week, Sarah Pragnell was appointed as Cricket Australia’s new chief financial officer (CFO). She replaced the outgoing CFO, Samantha Douglas.
Cricket Australia’s CEO Nick Hockley was thrilled to appoint Sarah in the role and said her appointment will have “strong benefits for cricket at all levels”.
“Together with the excitement of Big Bash Leagues, these blockbuster series will help drive growth in junior participation programs and competitions across the country,” Hockley said.