Women's cricket in the context of Women's Twenty20 International


Women's cricket in the context of Women's Twenty20 International

⭐ Core Definition: Women's cricket

Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by women. Its rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller ball. Women's cricket is beginning to be played at professional level in 11 of the 12 full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is played worldwide, especially in Commonwealth nations.


The first recorded cricket match between women was held in England on 26 July 1745. The game continued to be played socially by women until clubs for women were formed in the late 1800s. In 1926, the creation of the Women's Cricket Association (WCA) in England began the process of formalising the game and organising international matches. Like many women's sports, the further development of women's cricket was hampered by sexism and a lack of structural support.

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👉 Women's cricket in the context of Women's Twenty20 International

Women's Twenty20 international (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 international is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The very first Twenty20 International match was played on 5 August 2004 between England and New Zealand at Hove, six months before the first Twenty20 International match was played between two men's teams. The Women's T20 World Cup, the highest-level event in the format, was first held in 2009.

In April 2018, the ICC granted full women's Twenty20 international (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between two international sides after 1 July 2018 will be a full WT20I. A month after the conclusion of the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup, which took place in June 2018, the ICC retrospectively gave all the fixtures in the tournament full WT20I status. On 22 November 2021, in the 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier tournament, the match between Hong Kong and Nepal was the 1,000th WT20I to be played.

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Women's cricket in the context of Women's Twenty20

Women's Twenty20 is the use of the Twenty20 match format in women's cricket. In a Twenty20 match, the two teams bat for a single innings each, of a maximum of 20 overs. The wider rules and playing conditions are usually the same for both the men's format and the women's format, with some small variations.

The first women's Twenty20 matches took place concurrently on 29 May 2004, as part of the 2004 Super Fours: Braves versus Super Strikers and Knight Riders versus V Team. These matches were viewed as a warm-up for the first Women's Twenty20 International (and first T20I for either gender), that took place at Hove on 5 August 2004 between England and New Zealand.

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Women's cricket in the context of England women's cricket team

The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association. England is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council, with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status.

They played in the first ever Women's Test match in 1934, against Australia, which they won by 9 wickets. The two teams now compete regularly for The Women's Ashes. They played in the first Women's Cricket World Cup in 1973, winning the tournament on home soil, and have gone on to win the World Cup three more times, in 1993, 2009 and 2017. After their 2017 triumph, they were awarded the BBC Sports Team of the Year Award. They played in the first ever Twenty20 International in 2005, against New Zealand, and won the inaugural ICC Women's World Twenty20 in 2009, but despite being in the final on several occasions since they haven't repeated that triumph.

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Women's cricket in the context of New Zealand women's national cricket team

The New Zealand women's national cricket team, nicknamed the White Ferns, represents New Zealand in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of international women's cricket), the team is organised by New Zealand Cricket, a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

New Zealand made its Test debut in 1935, against England, becoming the third team to play at that level. With Australia and England, New Zealand is one of only three teams to have participated in all ten editions of the Women's Cricket World Cup. The team has made the final of the tournament on four occasions, winning in 2000 and placing second in in 1993, 1997, and 2009. At the Women's T20 World Cup, New Zealand were champions in 2024 and runners up in 2009 and 2010.

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Women's cricket in the context of Netherlands national women's cricket team

The Netherlands women's national cricket team, nicknamed the Lionesses, represents the Netherlands in international women's cricket. The team is organised by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1966.

A Dutch women's team first played an international match in 1937, when Australia toured on its way to play a series in England. The team regularly played fixtures against English club sides over the following decades, but it was not until the early 1980s that regular international competition commenced. The Netherlands made its One Day International (ODI) debut in 1984, against New Zealand, and made its World Cup debut at the 1988 edition of the tournament, in Australia. Considered a top-level team from the late 1980s through to the early 2000s, the Netherlands participated in four consecutive World Cups between 1988 and 2000, and made the quarter-finals of the 1997 event. The Dutch side retained its ODI status until the 2011 World Cup Qualifier. In 2007, the team played a one-off Test match against South Africa, joining Ireland as the only associate member of the ICC to play at that level.

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