Women's Cricket World Cup

The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the quadrennial international championship of the One Day International format with 50 overs per team. It is organised by the International Cricket Council.

Until 2005, when the two organisations merged, it was administered by a separate body, the International Women's Cricket Council. The first World Cup was held in England in 1973, two years before the inaugural men's tournament. The event's early years were marked by funding difficulties, which meant several teams had to decline invitations to compete and caused gaps of up to six years between tournaments. However, since 2005, World Cups have been hosted at regular four-year intervals.

Qualification for the World Cup is through the ICC Women's Championship and the World Cup Qualifier. The 1997 edition was contested by eleven teams and since then no new teams have debuted in the tournament. Since 2000 the number of teams in the World Cup has been fixed at eight. However, in March 2021, the ICC decided that the tournament would expand to 10 teams from the 2029 edition.

The thirteen World Cups played have been held in five countries, with India and England having hosted the event three times. Australia is the most successful team, having won seven titles and failing to make the final on only four occasions. England (four titles), New Zealand and India (one title each) are the only other teams to have won the event, while the West Indies and South Africa (once each) have each reached the final without going on to win.

History First World Cup Women's international cricket was first played in 1934, when a party from England toured Australia and New Zealand. The first Test match was played on 28–31 December 1934, and was won by England. The first Test against New Zealand followed early the following year. These three nations remained the only Test-playing teams in women's cricket until 1960, when South Africa played a number of matches against England. Limited overs cricket was first played by first-class teams in England in 1962. Nine years later, the first international one day match was played in men's cricket, when England took on Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Talks began in 1971 about holding a World Cup for women's cricket, led by Jack Hayward. South Africa, under pressure from the world for their apartheid laws, were not invited to take part in the competition. Both of the other two Test-playing nations, Australia and New Zealand were invited. Hayward had previously organised tours of the West Indies by England women and it was from this region that the other two competing nations were drawn; Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. To make up the numbers England also fielded a "Young England" team, and an "International XI" was also included. Five South Africans were invited to play for the International XI as a means of compensation for the team not being invited but these invitations were later withdrawn.

The inaugural tournament was held at a variety of venues across England in June and July 1973, two years before the first men's Cricket World Cup was played. The competition was played as a round-robin tournament and the last scheduled match was England against Australia. Australia went into the game leading the table by a solitary point; they had won four matches and had one abandoned. England had also won four matches but they had lost to New Zealand. As a result, the match also served as a de facto final for the competition. England won the match, held at Edgbaston Birmingham, by 92 runs to win the tournament.

Editions and results Fifteen teams have appeared at the Women's Cricket World Cup at least once, excluding qualification tournaments. Three teams have competed at every tournament: England, Australia and New Zealand. They were the only sides to have won a title until 2025, when India won their first title.

S.No.YearHost(s)Final venueFinalTeamsWinning CaptainWinnersResultRunners-up1 1973 No final 20 points England won on pointstable 17 points7Rachael Heyhoe Flint2 1978 No final 6 points Australia won on pointstable 4 points4Margaret Jennings3 1982 Lancaster Park, Christchurch 152/7 (59 overs) Australia won by 3 wicketsscorecard 151/5 (60 overs)5Sharon Tredrea4 1988 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne 129/2 (44.5 overs) Australia won by 8 wicketsscorecard 127/7 (60 overs)5Sharon Tredrea5 1993 Lord's, London 195/5 (60 overs) England won by 67 runsscorecard 128 (55.1 overs)8Karen Smithies6 1997 Eden Gardens, Kolkata 165/5 (47.4 overs) Australia won by 5 wicketsscorecard 164 (49.3 overs)11Belinda Clark7 2000 Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln 184 (48.4 overs) New Zealand won by 4 runsscorecard 180 (49.1 overs)8Emily Drumm8 2005 SuperSport Park, Centurion 215/4 (50 overs) Australia won by 98 runsscorecard 117 (46 overs)8Belinda Clark9 2009 North Sydney Oval, Sydney 167/6 (46.1 overs) England won by 4 wicketsscorecard 166 (47.2 overs)8Charlotte Edwards10 2013 Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai 259/7 (50 overs) Australia won by 114 runsscorecard 145 (43.1 overs)8Jodie Fields11 2017 Lord's, London 228/7 (50 overs) England won by 9 runsscorecard 219 (48.4 overs)8Heather Knight 12 2022 Hagley Oval, Christchurch 356/5 (50 overs) Australia won by 71 runsscorecard 285 (43.4 overs) 8Meg Lanning13 2025 DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai 298/7 (50 overs) India won by 52 runsscorecard 246 (45.3 overs) 8 Harmanpreet Kaur14 2029 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 10 TBA

Performance by nations Overview The table below provides an overview of the performances of nations over past World Cups, as of the end of the 2025 tournament. Teams are sorted by best performance, then by appearances, total number of wins, total number of games, and alphabetical order respectively.

AppearancesStatisticsTeamTotalFirstLatestBest performanceWonLostTieNRWin%1319732025 (1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2005, 2013, 2022)10085121286.731319732025 (1973, 1993, 2009, 2017)10067292268.361319732025 (2000)9455342360.431119782025 (2025)7942341254.54819972025 (2025)5526270249.05819932022 (2013)4616280134.78‡219731982 (1973)183140116.66519882005 (1997)347260120.58719972025 (1997), 5th place (2013 & 2025)419290223.68419882000 (1997)26224007.69†119731973 (1973)6240033.33 619972025 (2009)37331038.82†119731973 (1973)5140020.00 220222025 (2022, 2025)142110115.38219931997 (1993)132110015.38 Young England‡119731973 (1973)6150016.66 †No longer have ODI status. ‡No longer exists.

Legend – Champions – Runners-up – Third place – Losing semi-finalist (no third-place playoff) – Losing quarter-finalist (no further playoffs) — Hosts

Team 1973 (7) 1978 (4) 1982 (5) 1988 (5) 1993 (8) 1997 (11) 2000 (8) 2005 (8) 2009 (8) 2013 (8) 2017 (8) 2022 (8) 2025 (8) Total2nd 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 4th 1st SF 1st SF 13 – – – – – – – – – – – 7th 7th 2 – – – – 7th 9th – – – – – – – 21st 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st SF 5th SF 1st 3rd 1st 2nd SF 13 – 4th 4th – 4th SF SF 2nd 3rd 7th 2nd 5th 1st 11 – – – 4th 5th QF 7th 8th – – – – – 5 – – – 5th 8th QF 8th – – – – – – 43rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st SF 2nd 4th 5th 6th 6th 13 – – – – – 11th – – 5th 8th 8th 8th 8th 6 – – – – – QF SF 7th 7th 6th SF SF 2nd 8 – – – – – QF 6th 6th 8th 5th 7th – 5th 7 – – – – 6th 10th – 5th 6th 2nd 6th SF – 7 Defunct teamsInternational XI 4th – 5th – – – – – – – – – – 2 6th – – – – – – – – – – – – 1 5th – – – – – – – – – – – – 1 Young England7th – – – – – – – – – – – – 1

Debutant teams YearTeams1973, , , International XI‡, †, †, Young England‡19781982 none1988, 1993, 1997, , 2000 none2005 none2009 none2013 none2017 none20222025 none

†No longer have ODI status. ‡No longer exists.

Awards

Player of the Tournament YearPlayerPerformance details1988 Carole Hodges336 runs & 12 wickets2000 Lisa Keightley375 runs2005 Karen Rolton246 runs2009 Claire Taylor324 runs2013 Suzie Bates407 runs2017 Tammy Beaumont410 runs2022 Alyssa Healy509 runs2025 Deepti Sharma 215 runs & 22 wickets

Player of the Final

YearPlayerPerformance details1993 Jo Chamberlain 38 (33) & 1/28 (9)1997 Debbie Hockley 79 (121)2000 Belinda Clark 91 (102)2005 Karen Rolton107* (128)2009 Nicky Shaw4/34 (8.2)2013 Jess Cameron75 (76)2017 Anya Shrubsole6/46 (9.4) 2022 Alyssa Healy170 (138)2025 Shafali Verma87 (78) & 2/36 (7)

Team statistics

Results of host teams Year Host Team Finish 1973 Champions 1978 4th place 1982 3rd place 1988 Champions 1993 Champions 1997 Semi-finalists 2000 Champions 2005 7th place 2009 4th place 2013 7th place 2017 Champions 2022 6th place2025 Champions 5th place

Results of defending champions Year Defending champions Finish 1978 Runners-up 1982 Champions 1988 Champions 1993 3rd place 1997 Semi-finalists 2000 Runners-up 2005 Semi-finalists 2009 4th place 2013 3rd place 2017 Semi-finalists 2022 Runners-up 2025 Semi-finalists 2029

Tournament records

+ World Cup records BattingMost runs Debbie Hockley 1,501 1982–2000 Highest average (min. 10 innings) Karen Rolton 74.92 1997–2009 Highest score Belinda Clark (v ) 229* 1997 Highest partnership Tammy Beaumont & Sarah Taylor (v ) 275 2017 Most runs in a tournament Laura Wolvaardt 571 2025 BowlingMost wickets Marizanne Kapp 44 2009–2025 Lowest average (min. 500 balls bowled) Katrina Keenan 9.72 1997–2000 Best bowling figures Alana King (v ) 7/18 2025 Most wickets in a tournament Lyn Fullston 23 1982 FieldingMost dismissals (wicket-keeper) Jane Smit 40 1993–2005 Most catches Janette Brittin 19 1982–1997 Suzie Bates 2009–2025 TeamHighest score (v ) 412/3 1997 Lowest score (v ) 27 1997 Highest win % 86.73 Most Wins 85

Women's Cricket World Cup

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