Women's Champions Trophy 2027 Pushed Back From June to February


The Change ICC moved the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 from June-July to Feb 14-28, 2027.Decision approved at ICC Board’s quarterly meeting in Ahmedabad. Tournament will be hosted by Sri Lanka, 8 teams, T20 format. 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. Creates a partial overlap with NZ Women’s white-ball tour of Australia, Feb 27 – Mar 7, 2027.Cricket Australia has been informed and is considering implications. understands that Cricket Australia has been made aware of the change and is considering its options. 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. The ICC has also approved a trial of switching from a red ball to a pink ball before the start of a Test that is likely to be affected by bad light, subject to the prior agreement of both participating teams in an attempt to reduce the impact of bad light on Test matches. No official reason given by ICC. Reported factors: weather patterns and commercial considerations. New Feb window gives a more favourable slot in the calendar and avoids clashes with other major events. 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. New tournament: Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy 2026 piloted as 10-team event – 5 Full Members + 5 Associates.T20 World Cup 2028 pathway: 12 teams, Pakistan host, India matches at neutral venue. Top 8 from 2026 T20 WC + hosts + next best ranked as of July 6 2026 qualify automatically. Bottom line: The ICC shifted the first Women’s Champions Trophy to February 14-28, 2027, moving it out of the June-July window, as part of broader changes to strengthen the women’s cricket calendar.