The International Cricket Council’s Women’s Cricket World Cup is the most prestigious event in women’s cricket. This multi-nation event is played in the 50-over format, also known as One Day Internationals.
Interestingly, the women’s cricket World Cup is the oldest event across both men’s and women’s cricket. It was first held in 1873. No ‘final’ match was played in its first two editions. After playing in the round-robin format, the table toppers were declared the champions.
It was in 1982 when the top two teams from the league stage played a final for the first time in women’s cricket World Cup. A record participation was observed in 1997 when eleven teams featured in the tournament.
The growth of women’s cricket became evident in 2014. The International Cricket Council had to introduce a qualifying event before the main event due to the growing participation of teams. But a qualifying event ensured that every nation, including affiliate and associate members got a chance to perform their best at the global stage.In the main event, the women’s cricket World Cup consistently featured at least eight teams participate. This number is all scheduled to rise to ten from the 2029 edition of the tournament. The current format sees the top two teams from each group in the league stage qualify for the knockout rounds.
The latest edition of the tournament was held in 2022. Australia have dominated the event, winning seven of twelve editions held till date. Debbie Hockey’s tally of 1501 runs is the most by any player in the women’s cricket World cup. Among the bowlers, India’s Jhulan Goswami tops the chart, claiming a record 43 wickets.
