ICC Women's Championship (New Zealand) 2026/27

The ICC Women's Championship is an international One Day International (ODI) cricket competition established by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2014. It serves as the primary qualification pathway for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup. The competition operates in multi-year cycles. The inaugural 2014–2016 cycle featured eight Full Member nations: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. The tournament continued through subsequent cycles: 2017–2020 and 2022–2025. The current 2025–2029 cycle has expanded the participation to 11 teams with the inclusion of Zimbabwe. The format consists of bilateral ODI series scheduled by the ICC Future Tours Programme. In the current cycle, each of the 11 teams plays 24 matches across 8 series, totaling 132 matches. Points are awarded for wins, ties, and draws to determine a standing table. There are no play-offs or a final match. The team at the top of the table at the end of the cycle is declared the champion. Australia Women are the most successful team, having won the 2014–2016, 2017–2020, and 2022–2025 cycles consecutively, securing their third title in January 2025. The competition differs significantly from the T20 World Cup qualification pathway, which relies on ICC T20I rankings and regional/global qualifier tournaments rather than a continuous league table. Unlike domestic leagues, there is no formal relegation to a lower tier; however, teams that do not qualify directly for the World Cup (typically the bottom teams in the standings) must participate in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier. In the 2025–2029 cycle, the top eight teams qualify automatically for the World Cup, while the bottom three enter the qualifier.