Women's cricket

Women playing cricket in 1935
Highestgoverning body	International Cricket Council (formerlyInternational Women's Cricket Council)
First played	26 July 1745,Surrey (first recorded)[1]
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	11 players per side (substitutes permitted in some circumstances)
Mixed-sex	Women only
Type	Team sport,Bat-and-Ball,women's sport
Equipment	Cricket ball,Cricket bat,Wicket (Stumps,Bails),Protective equipment
Venue	Cricket field
Glossary	Glossary of cricket terms
Presence
Country or region	Worldwide (most popular inthe Commonwealth)
Olympic	2028

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Forms of cricket Test cricket Men's format Women's format First-class cricket Men's format Women's format One Day International Men's format Women's format Limited overs (domestic) Limited overs cricket List A cricket Twenty20 International Men's format Women's format Twenty20 (domestic) Men's format Women's format Other forms 100-ball cricket Backyard cricket Bete-ombro Blind cricket Club cricket Crocker Deaf cricket French cricket Indoor cricket UK variant Kilikiti Plaquita Single wicket Softball cricket T10 cricket Tape ball cricket Tennis ball cricket Vigoro Village cricket
International competitions ICC World Test Championship ICC Men's Test Team Rankings Cricket World Cup Women's Cricket World Cup Men's T20 World Cup Women's T20 World Cup ICC Champions Trophy ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League Euro T20 Slam Asia Cup World Cricket League Africa Region Cricket at the Summer Olympics Cricket at the African Games Cricket at the Asian Games Cricket at the Commonwealth Games Cricket at the Pacific Games Cricket at the South Asian Games
History of cricket History of cricket to 1725 History of English cricket (1726–1750) History of English cricket (1751–1775) History of English cricket (1776–1800) History of English cricket (1801–1825) History of women's cricket
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Women's cricket is theteam sport ofcricket when played bywomen. Itsrules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smallerball. Women's cricket is beginning to be played atprofessional level in 11 of the 12 full members of theInternational Cricket Council (ICC),^{[note 1]} and is played worldwide, especially inCommonwealth nations.

The first recorded cricket match between women was held in England on 26 July 1745.^[1] The game continued to be played socially by women untilclubs for women were formed in the late 1800s. In 1926, the creation of theWomen's Cricket Association (WCA) in England began the process of formalising the game and organisinginternational matches. Like manywomen's sports, the further development of women's cricket was hampered bysexism and a lack of structural support.

Although women have historically playedTest cricket andfirst class cricket, the focus of the women's game in the last 50 years has been mostly onlimited overs cricket. The introduction ofTwenty20 cricket (T20) in 2003 created more opportunities for the growth of the women's game. As well as competing against each other intours, national teams also compete in several tournaments, including theCricket World Cup and theT20 World Cup. Women's cricket has also been part of severalmulti-sport events.

In domestic cricket, many countries haveT20 cricket andList A cricket competitions that are run either alongside or separately from men's competitions. Grass roots cricket is growing, especially in England andAustralia, although many barriers still remain. Cricket boards often organise competitions that use new formats that are intended to appeal to women. Cricket for women with disabilities is also growing, especially inSouth Asia.

Cricket has long been viewed as a gentleman's sport, traditionally reserved for men.^[6] In recent decades, women’s cricket has grown a lot and is now played in many countries around the world.^[7]The first recorded cricket match between women was reported inThe Reading Mercury on 26 July 1745; the match was contested "between eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon, all dressed in white".^[8][1] The first known women's cricket club theWhite Heather Club was formed in 1887 inYorkshire. Three years later, a team known as theOriginal English Lady Cricketers toured England, reportedly making substantial profits before the manager absconded with the money.^[9]

In Australia, a women's cricket league was set up in 1894 andPort Elizabeth, South Africa, had a women's cricket team named thePioneers Cricket Club.^[10] In Canada, a women's cricket team in Victoria played atBeacon Hill Park.^[11]

In India, cricket teams for women existed as early as the 1920s.Delhi Ladies Cricket Club beat the men'sMarylebone Cricket Club in a half-day game ontheir 1926–27 tour of India, one of the only matches they lost on the tour.^[12][13] Because it was a women's team, the game is omitted from records of the tour.^[14] During the 1950s and 1960s, cricket was strongest in the urban centresChennai,Mumbai,Delhi andKolkata. The most-notable club in this period is Albees in Mumbai; many Albees players were female family members of prominent men's Test cricketers.^[15]

In 1958, theInternational Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) was formed to co-ordinate women's cricket around the world, taking over from the EnglishWomen's Cricket Association (WCA), which had been working in ade facto role since its creation 32 years earlier. In 2005, the IWCC was merged with theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) to form a unified body to manage and develop cricket.^[16]

Much of thelanguage of cricket is heavily gendered; terms such as maiden over,nightwatchman, and third man are not officially sanctioned but remain in colloquial use.^[17] In 2021, theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) amended the rulebook, theLaws of Cricket, to replace the term "batsman" with the term "batter" to better reflect the modern game.^[18] There was some derision in parts of the cricketing and wider press but others responded that the term "batter" had been in widespread use through much of the 18th and 19th centuries.^[17]

InThe Laws of Cricket, the only explicit difference between men's and women's cricket is theball size. According toThe Laws of Cricket:

Clause 4.6.1 Women’s cricket
Weight: from 4.94 ounces/140 g to 5.31 ounces/151 g
Circumference: from 8.25 in/21.0 cm to 8.88 in/22.5 cm.

For comparison, the ball in the men's game should weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 oz (156 and 163 g), and be between 8.81 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference.^[19] Many tournaments andforms of cricket, however, have additional differences in rules between women's and men's games.

In the 2023 ICC rules, the main differences from the men's games are:

• Threeumpires are sufficient in many cases, and they may be appointed by the Home Board (i.e., the country hosting the game).^[20] This is to increase the number of women umpires at the highest level.^[21] In the men's game, all four umpires must be appointed by the ICC from their list of Elite Umpires.^[22]
• Except for on the last day, play must continue until a minimum of 100overs, or 17overs per hour, have been completed.^[23] For the men's game, the minimum is 90 overs total or 15 per hour.^[24]
• On the last day, 83 overs (17 overs per hour) must be completed.^[25] The men's game mandates 75 overs (15 per hour).^[26]
• Ifplay is delayed,e.g. because of rain, the minimum overs are reduced by one for each 3.52 minutes lost^[27] whereas in the men's game, the reduction is one over per four minutes of delay.^[28]
• Follow-on can be enforced with a lead of 150runs.^[29] In a men's Test, the lead needed for a follow-on is 200 runs.^[30]
• Boundaries must not be "longer than 70 yards (64 metres), and no boundary should be shorter than 60 yards (54.86 metres) from the centre of the pitch".^[31] The boundaries in the men's game are larger with a minimum of 65 yards (59.43 metres) and a maximum of 90 yards (82.29 metres).^[32]
• Afielder who is absent for more than eight minutes may be penalised no more than 110 minutes.^[33] The maximum time penalty in the men's game is 120 minutes.^[34]

According to the June 2023 ICC rules forOne Day International (ODI) matches, the main differences are:

• Umpires may be local, i.e., not from an impartial third country.^[35]
• Theinnings break can be between 30 and 45 minutes^[36] whereas in themen's game, any interval may be no longer than 30 minutes.^[37] The twodrinks breaks are only 60 minutes apart^[38] instead of 70 minutes in the men's game.^[39]
• For a women's ODI, the game is expected to be twosessions of three hours and ten minutes^[40] with anover rate of 15.79 overs per hour.^[41] In the men's game, each session is expected to be three-and-a-half hours^[42] with an over rate of 14.28 per hour.^[43]
• As in Test cricket, theboundaries must be between 60 yards (54.86 metres) and 70 yards (64 metres).^[44]
• The same difference in penalty times for a fielder as in Test cricket.^[45][46]
• Theinfield is set at 25.15 yards (23 metres),^[47] whereas it is 30 yards (27.43 meters) for men.^[48]
• There's onepowerplay that is identical to the men's first powerplay (10 overs with only 2fielders in theoutfield). After that, only four fielders areallowed in the outfield. Unlike the men's game, a women's ODI does not have a third powerplay with an additional fielder in the outfield. If the duration of the game is reduced, for example due to rain, the method of calculating the number of overs in the powerplay is slightly different between the two games.^[49][50]

According to the June 2023 ICC rules, the main differences are:

• As with Test and ODI cricket, umpires may be local (i.e. not from an impartial third country).^[51]
• Intervals between innings are 15 minutes long^[52] compared to 20 minutes in amen's T20 match.^[53]
• The expectation is each session of a match will be of 75 minutes^[54] with a minimum over rate of 16 overs per hour.^[55] In the men's game, an over rate of 14.11 per hour is expected^[56] and each session is of 85 minutes.^[57]
• The boundaries are again set at between 60 yards (54.86 metres) and 70 yards (64 meters).^[58]
• Penalty time for a fielder absent from the field of play for more than eight minutes is a maximum of 35 minutes^[59] and for the men it is 40 minutes.^[60]
• The infield is set at 25.15 yards (23 metres)^[61] and is set at 30 yards (27.43 metres) for men.^[62]
• For overs that are not part of the powerplay, four fielders are permitted in the outfield^[63] whereas men are permitted five fielders.^[64]

Initially, like men, women played cricket in clothes that were similar to their everyday wear. Withchanges in womenswear in thelate Victorian period, clothes for middle-and-upper-class women to undertake physical activity became more available. TheRational Dress Society had an outfit for cricket in its 1883 catalogue.^[65]

During theinterwar period, women's sportswear became more available and theWomen's Cricket Association (WCA) encountered something they named "the clothing problem".^[66] The debate about what women should wear when playing cricket was intense; a debate about it can be found in the minutes of everyAnnual General Meeting of the WCA from its foundation until its last AGM beforeWorld War II. There was tension between the needs of female players who wished to wear comfortable, practical clothing, and the need to appear as "respectable" women to the public and to the male establishment who owned the cricket grounds. There was also anxiety about womencross-dressing and the need to maintain gender roles while playing sport.^[67]

Photographs in the British press in the early 20th century often showed women playing cricket with bare legs and inbathing costumes but most played in more-practical clothing.^[70][69] Rules about women playing in white dresses and skirts were imposed on high-level women's cricket but in local games, it was common to play inflannels of any colour.^[71]

FollowingEngland's first tour of Australia and New Zealand, theEngland,Australia andNew Zealand teams adopted the whitedivided skirts as part of their uniforms. England continued to play in skirts until 1997.^[69] Diving for the ball in a skirt risked injury andfriction burns. The move to trousers eliminated this danger for women players, and the tan lines between the bottom of the skirts and the socks.^[72][73] The New Zealand team were given a sewing pattern and fabric, and were expected to make their uniforms or have them made.^[73]

According to the 2023 ICC rules, the rules on men's and women's attire in international cricket are identical.^[74] The only gender-specific clothing rule allows cricketers to wearhijab in ICC events provided it does not obscure any logos and names on the playing uniform. ForTest matches, scarves must be black or white but for ODIs and T20s, they can be black or the same colour as theteam cap but they cannot be white.^[75]

Appropriate equipment has long been an issue for women in cricket. Players have often had to use poorly fitting small men's or juniors equipment, which impeded performance.^[76] Englandwicket keeperBetty Snowball avoided this problem by having hergloves andpads custom made.^[77] Many women players prefer smaller, lighterbats.^[78][79] Labeling of equipment has been exclusionary; equipment for children has been labelled as "boys" but this has begun to change.^[80] Present and former cricketers, such asLydia Greenway,^[78]Ellyse Perry^[81] andHeather Knight,^[82] have been involved with leading changes in the design of equipment for women. The brandsKookaburra, SM Cricket, Viking,Gray-Nicolls and JPGavan all now produce equipment intended for women.^[78][81] The brands NEXX and Lacuna Sports have been launched in the UK to provide clothing and equipment to women who play cricket.^[83][84]

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Women's cricket" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Women's cricket has been played internationally since the inauguralwomen's Test match between England's and Australia's women's teams in December 1934. The following year, New Zealand joined them. in 2007Netherlands became the tenth women's Test nation in their debut againstSouth Africa. A total of 145 women's Test matches have been played.^{[citation needed]}

Women's One Day Internationals (ODIs) were introduced in 1973 at the inauguralWomen's Cricket World Cup. The 1,000th women's ODI took place in 2016. Australia has dominated the format, having claimed the World Cup six times and won 80% of their matches.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, a shorter-still format, theTwenty20 International (T20I) was introduced; matches are restricted to twenty overs per side. Initially, women's T20 cricket was played little at international level; four matches were played by the end of 2006. The following three years saw a rapid growth in women's T20 Internationals; six matches were played in 2007, ten in 2008 and thirty in 2009, which also saw the firstICC Women's World Twenty20. In April 2018, the ICC granted its members full women's T20 International status.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2021, the ICC retrospectively appliedfirst-class andList A status to women's cricket, aligning it with the men's game.^[85][86]

In July 2023, the ICC announced equal prize money will be available for ICC global events, meaning futureWomen's Cricket World Cup andWomen's T20 World Cup competitions will have the same prizes for winners and runners up as male competitions.^[87]

The ICC maintains rankings of the 13 teams withODI status and all teams who play T20I matches.^[88] As of August 2023^[update],Australia top both tables.^[89][90]

ICC Women's ODI Team Rankings v t e Team Matches Points Rating  Australia 28 4,573 163  England 36 4,550 126  India 40 5,041 126  South Africa 35 3,471 99  New Zealand 23 2,129 93  Sri Lanka 24 1,965 82  Bangladesh 24 1,798 75  Pakistan 25 1,834 73  West Indies 26 1,836 71  Ireland 29 1,467 51  Thailand 12 529 44  Scotland 12 525 44  Netherlands 10 226 23  Zimbabwe 18 253 14  United Arab Emirates 8 81 10  Papua New Guinea 11 104 9 Source:ICC Women's ODI Team Rankings, 3 November 2025

ICC Women's T20I Team Rankings v t e Team Matches Points Rating  Australia 31 9,260 299  England 46 12,751 277  India 44 11,581 263  New Zealand 34 8,600 253  South Africa 33 7,954 241  West Indies 35 8,433 241  Sri Lanka 38 8,672 228  Pakistan 36 7,790 216  Ireland 39 7,818 200  Bangladesh 34 6,535 192  Scotland 25 3,986 159  Thailand 48 7,456 155  Papua New Guinea 29 4,326 149  Zimbabwe 35 4,587 131  Netherlands 39 5,019 129  United Arab Emirates 46 5,806 126  Namibia 50 5,599 112  Uganda 65 7,263 112  Tanzania 35 3,730 107  Indonesia 29 2,834 98    Nepal 41 3,788 92  Hong Kong 54 4,782 89  Italy 33 2,891 88  Rwanda 59 4,901 83  United States 22 1,725 78  Nigeria 36 2,694 75  Malaysia 35 2,626 75   Switzerland 12 863 72  Kenya 41 2,832 69  Vanuatu 26 1,688 65  Canada 17 1,067 63  Jersey 30 1,870 62  Spain 17 1,049 62  Germany 33 1,850 56  Brazil 32 1,699 53  Myanmar 27 1,249 46  Sweden 24 1,093 46  Isle of Man 30 1,312 44  Japan 33 1,377 42  Sierra Leone 32 1,322 41  Cyprus 18 712 40  Denmark 23 908 39  Gibraltar 15 535 36  Guernsey 13 442 34  China 27 914 34  Samoa 23 709 31  Botswana 35 1,077 31  Kuwait 22 668 30  Turkey 11 322 29  Greece 26 662 25  France 14 352 25  Oman 6 150 25  Romania 12 290 24  Croatia 10 237 24  Austria 32 639 20  Bhutan 20 398 20  Qatar 16 277 17  Argentina 19 322 17  Estonia 23 376 16  Fiji 22 358 16  Mozambique 20 301 15  Serbia 17 246 14  Norway 24 342 14  Malta 17 200 12  Malawi 21 226 11  Luxembourg 15 149 10  Cameroon 24 160 7  Lesotho 10 50 5  Singapore 40 194 5  Philippines 21 54 3  Cook Islands 14 6 0  Eswatini 17 0 0  Finland 9 0 0  Czech Republic 19 0 0  Bulgaria 19 0 0  Belgium 8 0 0  Bahrain 15 0 0  Cambodia 10 0 0  Mongolia 20 0 0 Source:ICC Women's T20I Team Rankings, 21 November 2025

The ICC also maintains individual player rankings in ODI and T20I based onbatting,bowling andall-round performance.^[88]

ICC ODI and T20I Player Rankings v t e
Player	Batting		Bowling		All-Rounder
	ODI	T20I	ODI	T20I	ODI	T20I
Sophie Ecclestone	126th	79th	1st	1st	19th	9th
Hayley Matthews	7th	3rd	8th	11th	4th	1st
Nat Sciver-Brunt	1st	18th	25th	50th	3rd	6th
Beth Mooney	5th	1st	-	-	-	-
Marizanne Kapp	9th	61st	9th	44th	1st	13th
Ashleigh Gardner	19th	10th	4th	16th	2nd	3rd
Deepti Sharma	32nd	33rd	4th	3rd	5th	3rd
Laura Wolvaardt	2nd	5th	-	-	-	-
Amelia Kerr	12th	14th	14th	14th	5th	2nd
Tahlia McGrath	29th	2nd	58th	124th	19th	12th
Nonkululeko Mlaba	106th	212th	24th	2nd	41st	37th
Darcie Brown	231st	458th	30th	2nd	-	102nd
Smriti Mandhana	2nd	2nd	-	-	-	-
Jess Jonassen	67th	117th	3rd	25th	10th	23rd
Chamari Athapaththu	4th	6th	72nd	69th	12th	8th
Sadia Iqbal	120th	257th	21st	4th	42nd	44th
Nida Dar	39th	39th	19th	18th	9th	5th
Megan Schutt	113th	266th	5th	10th	26th	47th
Sarah Glenn	168th	145th	59th	5th	87th	22nd
Ellyse Perry	6th	23rd	47th	92nd	7th	11th
Boxes coloured blue and inbold are Top 5 rankings. References:ICC Women's ODI Rankings andICC Women's T20I Rankings, 7 January 2024.

Themen's game has a long history ofperpetual trophies but there are two only in women's cricket:The Women's Ashes andThe Rose Bowl.

In 1998, theWomen's Cricket Association (WCA) created a set ofAshes to be contested byAustralia andEngland. TheAustralia andEngland men's teams play for their own set ofAshes.^[91] In 2013, it changed from being a Test series to a series of ODIs, T20Is and a Test to better reflect the formats of cricket women regularly play.^[92]

The Rose Bowl is an ODI series played between Australia and New Zealand, and has been contested since the1984–85 season, the most-recent being in2020.^[93]

Before the start of the2023–24 series, thePakistan captainNida Dar andSouth Africa captainLaura Wolvaardt revealed an as-yet-unnamed new trophy for their teams to contest.^[94]

The Asia Cup began in 2004 as an ODI competition between members of theAsian Cricket Council (ACC). It initially ran every two years until 2008, then reformed in 2012 as a T20 tournament. The ACC intend to continue to run in it biannually, although on several occasions it has run every four years. The change to T20 cricket allowed the ACC to include moreAssociate nations in the tournament.^[95][96]

Women's Asia Cup Winners and Runner-ups v t e
Rank	Country	Wins	Runners-up	Total Appearances
1	India	7	2	9
2	Bangladesh	1	0	6
3	Sri Lanka	1	5	9
4	Pakistan	0	2	8
Updated as of the end of the2024 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup.[1]

The first ever Cricket World Cup was theWomen's Cricket World Cup organised in1973 by the WCA; it was based on an idea of cricketerRachael Heyhoe Flint and businessmanJack Hayward.^[97] After the success of the Women's Cricket World Cup, themen's tournament took place two years later.^[98]

Seven teams competed in the inaugural tournament, which took place in England over five and a half weeks. Each ODI match was 60 overs and every team played each other in around-robin league format.^[99] Subsequent tournaments were hampered by lack of funds for women's teams, meaning their scheduling was inconsistent for many years.^[100] The1997 World Cup was the first to be played with 50 overs and a knock-out stage.^[101]

Since the inaugural tournament, there have been 12 World Cups with the 13th planned for2025 in India.

Women's Cricket World Cup Winners and Runner-ups v t e
Rank	Country	Wins	Runners-up	Total Appearances
1	Australia	7	2	13
2	England	4	4	13
3	New Zealand	1	3	13
4	India	1	2	11
5	South Africa	0	1	8
6	West Indies	0	1	7
Updated as of the end of the2025 Women's Cricket World Cup.[2]

Women's European Cricket Championship Winners and Runner-ups v t e
Rank	Country	Wins	Runners-up	Total Appearances
1	England	8	1	12
2	Ireland	3	6	12
3	Netherlands	1	3	12
4	Denmark	0	2	5
Updated as of the end of the2014 tournament.

Originally called the "Kwibuka Cricket for Peace Women's T20 Tournament", the Kwibuka T20 Tournament is an annual T20 tournament that is played in Rwanda. It was founded in 2014 to mark the 20th anniversary of theRwandan genocide and to promote peace through cricket. It is unusual among women's tournaments because there is no male equivalent.^[102][103] African nations includingBotswana,Kenya,Namibia,Nigeria,Tanzania andUganda, and the hostsRwanda compete in the tournament. TheBrazilian andGerman teams have also taken part.^[104][105]

The word 'Kwibuka' means "to remember" inKinyarwanda, the Rwandan national language, and is the title of annual commemorations of the genocide.^[106]

Kwibuka T20 Tournament Champions and Runner-ups

Rank	Country	Champions	Runners-up	Apps.
1	Kenya	4	1	7
2	Uganda[a]	3	5	10
3	Tanzania	3	0	3
4	Rwanda	1	2	11
5	Namibia	0	1	1
6	Zimbabwe[b]	0	2	2
Updated as of the end of the2025 Tournament. ^Uganda's statistics include the results of the Uganda under-19 and under-23 teams. ^Zimbabwe's statistics include the results of the Zimbabwe A team.

Women's T20 World Cup Winners and Runner-ups v t e
Rank	Country	Wins	Runners-up	Total Appearances
1	Australia	6	1	9
2	England	1	3	9
3	New Zealand	1	2	9
4	West Indies	1	0	9
5=	India	0	1	9
5=	South Africa	0	2	9
Updated as of the end of the2024 Women's T20 World Cup.[3]

Following the introduction of T20 cricket, cricket has been included at severalmulti-sport events; the women's game is often added after the successful establishment of a men's tournament. As of August 2023^[update], five different major games have held women's cricket medal events; a sixth – theAfrican Games – is scheduled for early 2024 and a seventh – theOlympics – is scheduled for 2028.^[107]

The2023 African Games inAccra, Ghana will mark the game's debut in theAfrican Games.^[108]

Cricket made its debut at the2010 Asian Games inGuangzhou, China, with men's and women's T20 cricket matches.^[109] It returned for the2014 Asian Games^[110] Cricket was removed from the2018 Asian Games to reduce the burden on the Indonesian organisers.^[111]

The2022 Asian Games were delayed because of theCOVID-19 pandemic but cricket returned when the Games were held in September 2023.^[112][113] Eight teams competed, includingIndia who sent a team to the games for the first time and went home with their first gold medal.^[114][115]

Asian Games Women's Cricket Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Pakistan	2	0	0	2
2	India	1	0	0	1
3	Bangladesh	0	2	1	3
4	Sri Lanka	0	1	1	2
5	Japan	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		3	3	3	9

In August 2019, the Commonwealth Games Foundation announced the addition of women's cricket to the2022 Commonwealth Games. The matches were held atEdgbaston, and included eight teams competing in a T20 format^[117] during July and August 2022.^[118] Only a women's tournament was part of the Games.^[119][120]

Commonwealth Games Women's Cricket Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	1	0	0	1
2	India	0	1	0	1
3	New Zealand	0	0	1	1
Totals (3 entries)		1	1	1	3

Women's cricket has never been included in theOlympic Games. There was hope T20 cricket would be included in the2028 Summer Olympic Games inLos Angeles.^[122] It was on the shortlist for inclusion but was not chosen for the 28-sport provisional list, making its inclusion unlikely.^[123] The ultimate decision was made in October 2023 at a meeting of theInternational Olympic Committee Executive board by the nod of inclusion of cricket in 2028.^[124][107]

With the2032 Summer Olympics being hosted inBrisbane, Australia, the governing bodyCricket Australia have also noted their intention to have the game included.^[125]

Men's cricket has been part of thePacific Games since 1979 and a women's competition was introduced for the2015 Pacific Games inPort Moresby, Papua New Guinea.^[126] It appeared again at the2019 Pacific Games^[127] but was dropped for the2023 games.^[128]

Pacific Games Women's Cricket Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Samoa	2	0	0	2
2	Papua New Guinea	0	2	0	2
3	Fiji	0	0	1	1
	Vanuatu	0	0	1	1
Totals (4 entries)		2	2	2	6

Women's cricket made its debut at the2019 South Asian Games inPokhara, Nepal, in the T20 format.The Maldives set one of the lowest scores in International Women's Cricket, all out for 8 runs.^[131]

South Asian Games Women's Cricket Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Bangladesh	1	0	0	1
2	Sri Lanka	0	1	0	1
3	Nepal	0	0	1	1
Totals (3 entries)		1	1	1	3

Cricket made its debut at the2017 Southeast Asian Games inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia. It did not appear in anotherSoutheast Asian Games until the2023 Games.^[133]

Unusually among modern multi-sport events, the SEA Games do not keep to just the T20 format. For the2017 tournament, women only played T20 but for the2023 tournament they competed in6s,T10, T20 and 50-over competitions and each had medals available.^[133]

Southeast Asian Games Women's Cricket Medal Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand	4	0	0	4
2	Indonesia	1	3	0	4
3	Philippines	0	2	0	2
4	Malaysia	0	0	4	4
5	Myanmar	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		5	5	5	15

The majority of high-level women's domestic cricket inICC Full Member countries consists of50-over andTwenty20 competitions.^[136]

Since the2021 Taliban offensive and theFall of Kabul in 2021, cricket for women is in practice banned due to theTaliban's policies on women.^[2]

Eight state-based teams play 50-over cricket in theWomen's National Cricket League, which has run since the 1996–97 season.^[137] Since the 2015–16 season, eight city-based franchises have played T20 cricket in theWomen's Big Bash League.^[138]

TheBangladesh Women's National Cricket League has been played variously as a 50-over and a Twenty20 competition.^[139]

Eight regional teams compete in the 50-overRachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Twenty20Charlotte Edwards Cup, while eight city-based teams compete inThe Hundred, a100-ball cricket competition.^[140] TheEnglish counties play in theWomen's Twenty20 Cup.^[141]

Previously^[when?], the English counties played in theWomen's County Championship, while six semi-professional teams played in theWomen's Cricket Super League.^[140][141]

To grow women's participation in the game, including those who have never played cricket, in 2017, theEngland and Wales Cricket Board created a format calledsoftball cricket.^[142] It uses a modified scoring system, has 6-to-8 players per team and lasts just over an hour. It has a more-relaxed playing style than hardball cricket; for exampleunderarm bowling is allowed and more-complicated rules such asleg before wicket are not included.^[143] Conventional cricket played by women is occasionally called "women's hardball cricket" to distinguish it from softball cricket.^[144]

Several domestic women's cricket competitions exist in India. State teams play for the 50-overWomen's Senior One Day Trophy and theWomen's Senior T20 Trophy, while composite teams play for the 50-overSenior Women's Challenger Trophy and theWomen's Senior T20 Challenger Trophy. Domesticfirst-class women's cricket was last played in India in the form of theSenior Women's Cricket Inter Zonal Three Day Game, which ended after the 2017–18 season.^[145] The domestic red-ball game for women has been revived in the 2023-24 season with theSenior Women's Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy. A total of six zonal teams competed in a knockout format.^[146]

In 2018, women's franchise cricket in India began with theWomen's T20 Challenge, which began as a two-team competition. The following year, the competition was expanded to a three-team tournament.^[147] TheWomen's Premier League, a five-team franchise T20 competition, was created in 2023 to replace the T20 Challenge.^[148]

TheWomen's Super Series in Ireland in contested by three teams. From 2021, the competition has been split into separate 50-over and Twenty20 sections.^[149]

Six regional-based teams compete in the 50-overHallyburton Johnstone Shield, which has existed since the 1935–36 season, and the Twenty20Super Smash, which began in the 2007–08 season.^[150]

The 50-overPakistan Women's One Day Cup has run since the 2017–18 season while thePCB Women's Twenty20 Tournament began in the 2019–20 season. Previously, state and departmental teams competed in theNational Women's Cricket Championship, theWomen's Cricket Challenge Trophy and theDepartmental T20 Women's Championship.^[151]

Provincial teams play in the 50-overCSA Women's Provincial Programme, previously the CSA Women's Provincial One-Day Tournament, which has run since the 1995–96 season, and in theCSA Women's Provincial T20 Competition. which began during the 2012–13 season. Since 2019, composite teams have played in theWomen's T20 Super League.^[152]

In August 2023,Cricket South Africa announced a new structure for domestic cricket. It will be composed of six teams that will have increased funding to professionally contract more players and hire full-time coaching staff.^[153]

The 50-over competition is theSri Lanka Women's Division One Tournament. Several Twenty20 competitions have taken place, including the Super Provincial T20 Tournament and the Super 4 Twenty20 Competition.^[154]

The nations that make up the West Indies have competed in theWomen's Super50 Cup since 1975 and in theWomen's Twenty20 Blaze since 2012.^[155]

In 2022,Cricket West Indies and theCaribbean Premier League jointly launched two women's competitions: aT10 cricket competition calledThe 6ixty and theWomen's Caribbean Premier League, both with three teams that are aligned with men's sides.^[156][157] The 6ixty was partly inspired by the women's exhibition T10 matches that were played just before the2019 Caribbean Premier League playoff matches.^[158][159]

The 50-over competition is theFifty50 Challenge and the Twenty20 competition is theWomen's T20 Cup, both of which are competed for by four teams that are aligned with men's sides.^[160]

Women are known to have been playingblind cricket in Australia since at least the 1940s, when they competed with and against men.^[161]

England and Nepal have had women's international teams since at least November 2014, when Nepal beat England 3-0 in a three game series.^[162] In 2018, England toured the West Indies and won the series 4–1.^[163][164]

The first international series played in Pakistan was held in January and February 2019.^[165] ThePakistan Blind Cricket Council formed a national women's team in 2018 that played the Nepalese blind women's team in five T20 games. The Pakistani team were publicly supported bySana Mir and other professional cricketers.^[166] Nepal won the series 4–0.^[167]

In 2019, theCricket Association for the Blind in India created a blind cricket league for women consisting of teams from sevenstates.^[168] Odisha won the inaugural tournament, beating Karnataka 218/8 (20.0) to Karnataka's 131/8 (20.0).^[169] The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[170] It expanded to 14 states for the 2022 tournament, which was won by Karnataka.^[171][172] The 2023 tournament had 18 teams. Odisha regained the title.^[173]

India formed a national team in 2020 but had to cancel its intended 2021 tour of England because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[174] Their first tour was in Nepal in April 2023.^[175][176] Nepal won that series 3–1.^[177]

The 2023IBSA World Games inBirmingham, England, included cricket for the first time and India was the first country to announce it would be sending a team.^[178] England and Australia also sent teams to the Games; it was the Australian team's international debut.^[179][180] The Pakistani team was unable to participate due to lack of funds.^[181] India was the first team to reach the finals by winning their first three matches and won all four matches of their group games. Australia won the other place with a highernet run rate than England.^[182] India beat Australia in the final and were publicly praised byIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.^[183]

Cricket values records and statistics. Women's records have often been overlooked, especially when a women's record precedes or exceeds a men's record.^[184] For example,Belinda Clark made the firstdouble century in ODI cricket in the1997 World Cup, 23 years earlier thanSachin Tendulkar's 200* in 2010.^[184][185]Betty Wilson became the first player to score acentury and taketen wickets in a Test match in 1958.^[186]Ian Botham did not achieve this until 1980.^[187]

Among Test nations, Australia holds the record for the most wins, having won 21 of their 77 Test matches.^[188]

The all-time-leading women's Test batter isDenise Annetts of Australia with a Testbatting average 81.90.^[189] As of 2023^[update], she is third behindDon Bradman's famous 99.94 andSaud Shakeel's current 87.50.^{[190][note 2]}

The player with the highestbowling average is AustralianBetty Wilson with an average of 11.80.^[191] This puts her second to the 10.75 ofGeorge Lohmann.^[192]

• Lists of women Test cricketers
• Lists of women One Day International cricketers
• Lists of women Twenty20 International cricketers
• ICC Women's Player Rankings

• Women's cricket
• Cricket

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