The 2018–19 international cricket season was from September 2018 to April 2019. 34 Test matches, 92 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 74 Twenty20 International (T20Is), as well as 28 Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 130 Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), were played during this period. The season started with India leading the Test cricket rankings, England leading the ODI rankings and Pakistan leading the Twenty20 rankings. In October 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced separate rankings for women's ODIs and T20Is for the first time, with Australia women leading both tables.
All men's Twenty20 matches played between member sides after 1 January 2019 were eligible for full international status to be classified as T20Is, as per a decision made by the ICC in April 2018 (the same had applied to women's Twenty20 matches since 1 July 2018). The first men's T20Is to be classified as such under these new rules took place at the 2019 ACC Western Region T20.
Men's international cricket started off with the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier, which saw Hong Kong qualify for the 2018 Asia Cup. The Asia Cup started nine days later and was won by India, who beat Bangladesh in the final. Other highlights included New Zealand beating Pakistan in an away Test series for the first time in 49 years, India winning a Test series against Australia in Australia for the first time ever, and Sri Lanka becoming the first side from Asia to win a Test series against South Africa in South Africa. The last Test match of Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand was cancelled due to the Christchurch mosque shootings. In March 2019, Afghanistan won their first Test match, beating Ireland by seven wickets in their one-off Test in India.
On 20 October, the ICC announced a major revamp to the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process. Following the conclusion of the Division Three and Division Two tournaments, the World Cricket League (WCL) was scrapped and the new qualification pathway consisted of the following tournaments: CWC Super League (comprising the 12 Full Members and the Netherlands), CWC League 2 (comprising Scotland, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, and the top four finishers the Division Two tournament), CWC Challenge League (the next best 12 nations based on final rankings in the WCL), CWC Play-Off, and the CWC Qualifier. The 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament, which was held in Oman, saw Oman and the United States promoted to Division Two, while Singapore, Kenya, Denmark and Uganda were placed in the CWC Challenge League. The Division Two tournament, was held in Namibia in April. Oman, Namibia, the United States and Papua New Guinea all finished in the top four places, and gained ODI status in the process.
The qualification process for the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup started during the season. The East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Group B Subregional Qualifier, held in the Philippines, saw the Philippines qualify for the EAP Regional Qualifier. The Asia Eastern Sub Region Qualifier, held in Malaysia, saw Nepal, Singapore, and Malaysia qualify for the Asia Region Qualifier. The Africa Southern Sub Region Qualifier, held in Botswana, saw Botswana and Namibia qualify for the Africa Region Qualifier. The Americas Northern Sub Region Qualifier, held in the United States, saw Canada and the United States qualify for the America Region Qualifier. Papua New Guinea won the Regional Final of the EAP Qualifier to become the first team to qualify for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament.
Women's international cricket started off with India's tour of Sri Lanka. The highlight of women's cricket for the 2018–19 season was the Women's World Twenty20, which was won by Australia. The 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Asia saw Thailand qualify for both the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and 2020 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
Season overview Men's international tours Start date Home team Away team Results [Matches] Test ODI T20I LA — 3–0 2–0 — 2–0 3–1 3–0 — 1–0 — 3–0 — 0–3 1–3 0–1 — 1–1 3–0 — — — — 0–1 — 1–2 1–1 3–0 — — 1–2 0–1 — 1–2 1–2 1–1 — 2–0 2–1 1–2 — 1–0 3–0 1–0 — 3–0 3–2 2–1 — — 1–4 2–1 — 2–1 2–2 0–3 — 2–0 — — — — 1–2 1–2 — 2–0 3–0 — — 0–2 5–0 3–0 — — — — 1–2 1–0 2–2 3–0 — — 2–3 0–2 — — — 1–0 — — 0–5 — — Zimbabwe were scheduled to play India in March 2019, but the tour did not take place. — — — 4–0 — — Men's international tournaments Start date Tournament Winners 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier 2018 Asia Cup 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three 2018–19 Oman Quadrangular Series 2019 ICC T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two
Women's international tours Start date Home team Away team Results [Matches] WTest WODI WT20I — 1–2 0–4 — 1–1 2–2 — 3–0 3–0 — 1–0 0–3 — 0–3 0–3 — 1–2 3–0 — 2–1 1–2 — 3–0 3–0 — 2–1 0–3 — 0–3 0–3 Women's international tournaments Start date Tournament Winners 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Asia
Rankings
The following were the rankings at the beginning of the season.
ICC Test Championship 11 September 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 35 4016 115 2 35 3712 106 3 33 3499 106 4 45 4722 105 5 23 2354 102 6 38 3668 97 7 21 1853 88 8 29 2235 77 9 19 1268 67 10 8 12 2
ICC ODI Championship 1 September 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 51 6470 127 2 48 5819 121 3 41 4602 112 4 39 4275 110 5 37 3844 104 6 37 3699 100 7 27 2477 92 8 48 3818 80 9 32 2217 69 10 31 1924 62 11 42 2242 53 12 23 904 39 13 16 535 33 14 14 298 21
ICC T20I Championship 23 August 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 30 3972 132 2 37 4601 124 3 21 2570 122 4 21 2448 117 5 22 2542 116 6 19 2093 110 7 21 2219 106 8 27 2490 92 9 28 2451 88 10 27 2066 77 11 15 927 62 12 18 1006 56 13 12 608 51 14 12 598 50 15 10 420 42 16 7 270 39 17 19 638 34
ICC Women's ODI Rankings 11 October 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 19 2659 140 2 24 2963 123 3 27 3212 119 4 27 3126 116 5 36 3538 98 6 19 1754 92 7 20 1464 73 8 23 1335 58 9 13 632 49 10 10 211 21
ICC Women's T20I Rankings 11 October 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 19 5316 280 2 25 6928 277 3 19 5239 276 4 19 4928 259 5 27 6733 249 6 21 5107 243 7 24 5451 227 8 23 4770 207 9 27 5209 193 10 13 2447 188 11 8 1199 150 12 28 4076 146 13 14 2029 145 14 16 2081 130 15 20 2532 127 16 8 965 121Only the top 16 teams are shown
September 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result 1st Match 29 August Ahmad Faiz Anshuman Rath Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 3 wickets 2nd Match 29 August Paras Khadka Zeeshan Maqsood Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran by 7 wickets 3rd Match 29 August Rohan Mustafa Chetan Suryawanshi UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi by 215 runs ODI 4034 30 August Rohan Mustafa Paras Khadka Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 78 runs 5th Match 30 August Anshuman Rath Chetan Suryawanshi Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran by 5 wickets 6th Match 30 August Ahmad Faiz Zeeshan Maqsood UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi by 2 wickets 7th Match 1 September Zeeshan Maqsood Chetan Suryawanshi Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 8 wickets 8th Match 1 September Ahmad Faiz Paras Khadka Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran by 19 runs 9th Match 1 September Rohan Mustafa Anshuman Rath UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi by 182 runs 10th Match 2 September Anshuman Rath Zeeshan Maqsood Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara No result 11th Match 2 September Ahmad Faiz Rohan Mustafa Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran by 8 wickets 12th Match 2 September Paras Khadka Chetan Suryawanshi UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi by 4 wickets 13th Match 4 September Ahmad Faiz Chetan Suryawanshi Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 29 runs 14th Match 4 September Rohan Mustafa Zeeshan Maqsood Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran by 13 runs 15th Match 4 September Paras Khadka Anshuman Rath UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi by 3 wicketsFinal 16th Match 6 September Rohan Mustafa Anshuman Rath Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 2 wickets (DLS)
India women in Sri Lanka
2017–20 ICC Women's Championship – WODI series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WODI 1124 11 September Chamari Athapaththu Mithali Raj Galle International Stadium, Galle by 9 wickets WODI 1125 13 September Chamari Athapaththu Mithali Raj Galle International Stadium, Galle by 7 runs WODI 1126 16 September Chamari Athapaththu Mithali Raj FTZ Sports Complex, Katunayake by 3 wicketsWT20I series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WT20I 494 19 September Chamari Athapaththu Harmanpreet Kaur FTZ Sports Complex, Katunayake by 13 runs WT20I 495 21 September Chamari Athapaththu Harmanpreet Kaur Colts Cricket Club Ground, Colombo No result WT20I 496 22 September Chamari Athapaththu Harmanpreet Kaur Colombo Cricket Club Ground, Colombo by 5 wickets WT20I 497 24 September Chamari Athapaththu Harmanpreet Kaur Colombo Cricket Club Ground, Colombo by 7 wickets WT20I 499 25 September Chamari Athapaththu Harmanpreet Kaur FTZ Sports Complex, Katunayake by 51 runs
2018 Asia Cup
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result ODI 4036 15 September Mashrafe Mortaza Angelo Mathews Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 137 runs ODI 4037 16 September Sarfaraz Ahmed Anshuman Rath Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 8 wickets ODI 4038 17 September Asghar Afghan Angelo Mathews Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 91 runs ODI 4039 18 September Rohit Sharma Anshuman Rath Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 26 runs ODI 4040 19 September Rohit Sharma Sarfaraz Ahmed Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 8 wickets ODI 4041 20 September Asghar Afghan Mashrafe Mortaza Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 136 runs
Super Four
Super Four No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result ODI 4042 21 September Mashrafe Mortaza Rohit Sharma Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 7 wickets ODI 4043 21 September Asghar Afghan Sarfaraz Ahmed Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 3 wickets ODI 4044 23 September Rohit Sharma Sarfaraz Ahmed Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 9 wickets ODI 4045 23 September Asghar Afghan Mashrafe Mortaza Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 3 runs ODI 4046 25 September Asghar Afghan MS Dhoni Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Match tied ODI 4047 26 September Mashrafe Mortaza Sarfaraz Ahmed Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 37 runsFinal ODI 4048 28 September Rohit Sharma Mashrafe Mortaza Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by 3 wickets
South Africa women in West Indies
2017–20 ICC Women's Championship – WODI series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WODI 1127 16 September Stafanie Taylor Dane van Niekerk Kensington Oval, Bridgetown by 40 runs WODI 1128 19 September Stafanie Taylor Dane van Niekerk Kensington Oval, Bridgetown No result WODI 1129 22 September Stafanie Taylor Dane van Niekerk Kensington Oval, Bridgetown by 115 runsWT20I series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WT20I 498 24 September Stafanie Taylor Chloe Tryon Kensington Oval, Bridgetown by 17 runs WT20I 500 28 September Stafanie Taylor Dane van Niekerk Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad by 9 wickets WT20I 501a 30 September Stafanie Taylor Dane van Niekerk Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad Match abandoned WT20I 504 4 October Stafanie Taylor Chloe Tryon Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad by 8 wickets WT20I 508 6 October Stafanie Taylor Chloe Tryon Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad by 3 wickets
New Zealand women in Australia