While Allardice did not divulge any details about the FTP, ESPNcricinfo has learned that teams will play mainly three-match ODI series, which will be part of the Women’s Championships leading towards qualification for the 2025 ODI World Cup. Some countries, where possible, have clubbed a five-match T20I series to round off ODI tours. Teams can also look forward to preparatory matches ahead of the global tournaments.
“The women’s FTP is going to be published,” Allardice said from Birmingham, where the ICC’s annual conference ended on Tuesday. “It’s the first time we have had a long-term plan around women ‘s series that can give broadcasters and fans a certainty about who is playing who and what time of the year.
“It is structured around the ICC Women’s Championships through from 2022-25 with a lead up to the next World Cup which will be staged in India.”
For a long time players and supporters of women’s cricket have demanded an increase in matches and a regularity in schedule. However with lack of support from broadcasters in the past, cricket boards have not always been receptive.
With an abundance of talent available, the women’s game branched out to include T20 leagues as well. The Women’s Big Bash (WBBL) in Australia has led the way with its 59-game format per season – 56 league games followed by two semi-finals and the final. The Kia Super League, which began in England in 2016, had four highly successful seasons before it made way for the Hundred in 2021.
Allardice said that, some of the women’s cricket captains, whom he met on Tuesday in Birmingham at an ICC-hosted panel discussion, mentioned that they were positive about the future of the sport. “The players were commenting that certainly their schedules were a lot busy than they were a few years ago. As you will see various domestic (T20) leagues strengthening as well in the women’s game you will find a very, very solid calendar of cricket for the international women’s teams over the coming years.”
For all the growth in limited-overs cricket, women’s Tests remain an “optional” product according to a CEO from a Full Member country who sits on the ICC’s chief executives committee, which is responsible for coming up with the FTP.
With inputs from S Sudarshanan, who is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
