Australia were Tuesday presented with the ICC Women’s Championship trophy after they won the 10-team competition that provides a pathway to the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
Captain Alyssa Healy was presented the trophy in Melbourne on behalf of the International Cricket Council by Cricket Australia chair and ICC director Mike Baird.
Australia have now won all three editions of the championship, which was instituted in 2014 to grow the women’s game and has been instrumental in ensuring more women’s cricket tours over the past decade.
Meg Lanning lifted the trophy the first two times, when it was played from 2014-16 and 2017-20 featuring eight teams – Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Bangladesh and Ireland were added in the third edition played from 2022-2025.
ICC chair Jay Shah congratulated the Australian team for their consistency over the years and the other teams for also producing some fine efforts that made the championship interesting.
Healy said it was a great feeling to have won the championship, and that the victory reflected the consistent cricket that her team played over the cycle. She commented: “We are pumped up about winning the ICC Women’s Championship. It was a cool cycle, being able to play the teams we did. It was hotly contested and went down the wire, so it was exciting to win in the end. We had a good couple of performances to get over the line and hopefully it’s good vibes for the next cycle as well.
“Knowing early that you have qualified for the World Cup is obviously a huge advantage. We dropped a couple of games along the way but having stayed at the top of the ladder put us in good stead ahead of the World Cup.
“Knowing the nature of this cycle, it’s good signs for the ODI World Cup, which is going to be competitive. We have played a lot in India, but the conditions can be tricky in the ODI format, so we are not sure what we are going to get.
“We are excited to get there, knowing there will be so many others too vying for that trophy.”
The championship saw all teams play against eight other teams in three-match series on a home or away basis with Australia assuring itself the top position in the points table with 39 points from 24 matches.
The top five teams, along with hosts India qualified directly for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 while the bottom four get another chance to make it through a Qualifier.
India (37), England (32), South Africa (25), Sri Lanka (22) and New Zealand (21) are the other direct entrants while the bottom four will play the Qualifier, details of which will be announced in due course.
Bangladesh were tied with New Zealand on 21 points but the Kiwis made it through on the basis of more wins in the championship.
Bangladesh, West Indies (18), Pakistan (17) and Ireland (eight) will be joined in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier by Scotland and Thailand, the two other highest ranked teams as of 31 October 2024. There are two spots up for grabs in the Qualifier.
