USA Women’s National Team alongside four other Associate Member women’s teams have been awarded One Day International status by the ICC with immediate effect.
Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand and the USA have all had their status upgraded as part of the revamping of the ICC Cricket World Cup pathway.
In the short term the news means that all five teams will see their performances in one-day games count towards qualification for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
“Awarding ODI status to five additional teams will help us to accelerate the growth of the women’s game,” said ICC CEO Geoff Allardice. “More teams playing more regularly creates a more competitive environment as we saw at the recent ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.”
“Good luck to Netherlands, PNG, Scotland, Thailand and the USA on what I hope will be a great opportunity to develop in 50-over cricket in their countries.”
Nadia Gruny, Chair of the USA Cricket Women’s and Girls Committee, commented, “Today’s announcement from the ICC is a fantastic boost for the women’s game across America. As an organization, we have a stated focus on the growth of the women’s game from the grass-roots through to the National teams with our newly developed women’s domestic structures and our plan to Shape the Future for Women and Girls in American Cricket during 2021-2023. The opportunity for the women’s international side to now play official One Day Internationals as part of the qualification pathway for the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup is a huge one. We look forward to utilizing our new ODI status by organizing fixtures where possible in the months and years ahead.”
The news comes on the same day as the ICC announced the new edition of the ICC Women’s Championship, which will feature two new teams in Bangladesh and Ireland, taking the total nations competing up to ten.
Each team will play eight three-match series in the Championship over the next three years, with the top five teams and the hosts qualifying for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, with the remaining teams going into the qualifying competition.
