With immediate effect, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has granted One Day International(ODI) status to five Associate women’s teams.
As a result of the revisions made to the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying system, the status of the United States of America, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and the Netherlands has been improved.
As an immediate result of this piece of news, each of the five teams will have the opportunity to have their results in one-day games count toward the process of qualifying for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
According to Geoff Allardice, CEO of the International Cricket Council, “awarding ODI status to five extra teams will assist us to accelerate the growth of the women’s game.”
“The recent ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup that was held in New Zealand demonstrated that an environment with a higher number of teams that competed on a more consistent basis produces a more competitive atmosphere.
“I want to wish the Netherlands, PNG, Scotland, Thailand, and the United States the best of luck as they pursue what I believe will be an excellent opportunity to advance 50-over cricket in their respective countries.”
Thailand is one of the five new ODI teams
They has established itself as a key power over the course of the past few years. They have qualified for the World T20 Cup in 2020 and performed admirably in the qualification process for the most recent 50-over World Cup, which was impacted by Covid.
Earlier this year, Thailand’s head coach Harshal Pathak was quoted as telling AFP that his team enjoys “playing cricket with an aggressive brand.”
“Everything we do, from the way we bat and field to the way we bowl, is done with a specific purpose in mind. There is an air of professionalism present. The girls are determined to leave their imprint on the world.”
The announcement of this news comes on the same day that the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the details of the upcoming season of the ICC Women’s Championship. This season will include Bangladesh and Ireland as new teams, bringing the total number of countries competing to ten.
Over the course of the next three years, each team will compete in a total of eight three-match series as part of the Championship. At the end of those three years, the top five teams, along with the hosts, will advance to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, and the remaining teams will compete in a qualifying tournament.
Meg Lanning, the captain of the Australian team, predicted that the upcoming third iteration of the Championship would be very exciting.
It will not only be beneficial for us to have the opportunity to play more cricket against Bangladesh and Ireland if they are included, but it will also be beneficial for Bangladesh and Ireland to have more opportunities to play cricket against the best nations.
“We want to see the women’s game as strong as possible, and growing the next tier of nations is a significant part of that,” said one of the team’s members.
Heather Knight, the captain of England, expressed similar sentiments to those expressed by her Australian counterpart:
She stated that the ICC Women’s Championship is extremely important for women’s cricket, and that the decision to expand the tournament to ten teams was the correct one.
“It is my sincere hope that the International Cricket Council Women’s Championship will continue to expand in the years to come.”
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