ICC unveils new global strategy to boost cricket and expand women’s game

The ICC Board has cleared a host of strategic measures to drive global cricket growth, including expanding the Women’s World Cup to 10 teams, confirming cricket’s return to the Olympics, and approving a 10 per cent funding increase for Associate Members

Hyderabad: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has approved a series of strategic measures designed to accelerate the global growth of cricket, strengthen the women’s game, and reinforce the ICC’s long-term development strategy.

The ICC reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of women’s cricket and hailed the success of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India as a testament to its long-standing faith in the women’s game.

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Nearly 300,000 fans watched the event in stadia, breaking the record for tournament attendance for any women’s cricket event. The tournament also saw viewership growth and new records being set for on-screen audiences across the world, with nearly 500 million viewers in India. Keen to build on the success of the event, the ICC Board agreed to expand the next edition of the tournament to 10 teams (from eight teams in 2025).

The Board reviewed the ICC’s ongoing engagement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28), as cricket deepens its footprint in the global multisport landscape.

It commended the efforts being made to include cricket in regional multisport games, which would mean increased participation opportunities for countries. Cricket is now confirmed to feature across multiple multisport events through to 2028, including the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, the 2027 African Games in Egypt, and the 2027 PanAm Games in Peru, where cricket will make its debut.

In the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, both men’s and women’s T20 events will feature six teams each, comprising 28 matches in all.

The ICC Board approved the issuance of an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for video gaming rights, opening the door for leading global partners to collaborate with the ICC in delivering world-class digital fan experiences. This marks a major step forward in expanding the game’s digital and entertainment footprint.

The Board also agreed to explore new commercial and innovation opportunities through a data consolidation project as part of the ICC’s broader strategy to unlock new revenue streams. The project will focus on leveraging data clusters to drive AI-powered fan engagement and enhanced analytics, as well as deepen consumer understanding across the cricket ecosystem. The initiative will also support ICC members with new commercial opportunities.

Reflecting the ICC’s commitment to equitable growth, the Board approved an increase of nearly 10 per cent in fund distribution to its Associate Members for the year 2026. The uplift in funding will enable these countries to invest further in domestic programmes, high-performance structures, and cricket development across emerging regions.

The ICC received its first update on ‘Project USA’, which was launched following the suspension of USA Cricket, in line with the ICC’s directive that the commercial and development interests of players in the US national teams should not be negatively impacted by the suspension of the Board due to non-compliance.

The ICC Board ratified the appointment of several members to the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee — Ashley De Silva, Mithali Raj, Amol Muzumdar, Ben Sawyer, Charlotte Edwards and Sala Stella Siale-Vaea.