A new ICC T20 tournament has been moved to February, forcing Cricket Australia to reschedule its planned white-ball series with New Zealand
Australia’s white-ball series with New Zealand at the back end of next summer will be rescheduled after the ICC moved the dates for its inaugural women’s Champion Trophy to February.
The six-team ICC tournament to be held in Sri Lanka had originally been scheduled to run in June-July but has now been moved to February 14-28. The T20 format event will run immediately following the WPL in India.
The ICC announced the change, as well as the introduction of an Emerging Nations Trophy and finalising the qualification pathway to the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup, following its latest board meetings, held in Ahmedabad to coincide with the IPL final.
Cricket Australia had in March published a 2026-27 international schedule that had Sophie Molineux’s side hosting New Zealand for three T20Is in late February, with three ODIs to follow in early March.
The matches had been scheduled to be hosted at North Sydney Oval, Manuka Oval in Canberra, Junction Oval in Melbourne and Adelaide’s Karen Rolton Oval.
“The ICC change means we will we have to make some changes to the schedule already announced. We will confirm those soon,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.
Australia’s women’s team are also scheduled to host Bangladesh for a white-ball series in October, with three ODIs and three T20Is to be played between October 9 and 22.
A change to the women’s Future Tours Programme in late 2024 to accommodate the growing number of T20 franchise leagues had seen Australia’s window for the marquee women’s international series shifted to February-March.
November is clear of international cricket for the Weber WBBL while there are also dedicated annual windows for India’s WPL (January-February) and The Hundred (August).
Australia’s women’s team are also committed to a three-match tour of Sri Lanka in December at the height of the men’s international season when England (white-ball) and New Zealand (Tests) are visiting.
Meanwhile, the Emerging Nations Trophy will run this year as a 10-team event featuring five Full Member nations and five Associate Member teams, selected based on rankings.
The ICC’s update did not include any clarity on how teams would be selected for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In other updates from the ICC, the game’s playing conditions will be updated to allow coaches to consult with players during drinks breaks, and a new 16-team global qualifier event for Associate nations will be created for men’s T20 World Cups.
The ICC Board also “expressed concern regarding (the) growing expanse of franchise cricket” and will create a committee to “assess harmonisation of franchise cricket with international calendar within the current structure”.
