The inaugural edition of the Int'l Cricket Council Women’s Championship kicks off in August and will see the top eight sides in the game in a multi-year, bilateral qualifying competition that will lead into the ICC Women’s World Cup. The ICC Women’s Championship will see the eight sides play each other in three One-Day Internationals, either at home or away, between '14-16.
Points will be awarded for each game, with the top four sides at the conclusion of the ICC Women’s Championship gaining automatic qualification to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, to be hosted by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The bottom four sides will have a second chance to qualify through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017, with details to be announced later (ICC). In London, Andy Wilson reported England’s one-day series against India next month will be its "first under a new Women’s Championship that will play a part in qualification for the 2017 World Cup." The Women’s Championship "is part of the ICC’s response to attempts to form a privately run women’s cricket tournament," with the ECB Chair Giles Clarke "the most strident in ruling out the possibility of England players being involved in that." ICC CEO
David Richardson said, "The ICC Women’s Championship provides another fantastic opportunity for women’s cricket" (GUARDIAN, 7/4).
