Women's Bilateral Calendar 2026-27 ICC Window Grid

The ICC women's bilateral calendar 2026-27 covers nine major series across the eight-month window from August 2026 through March 2027. The architecture has been built around the Women's World Cup 2026 staging window in India and the Women's Ashes 2026 which sits as the marquee multi-format event. Here is the grid.

August-September 2026: opening window

The August-September window includes three concurrent series. The Women's Ashes 2026 sits as the centrepiece, with the multi-format series running across August in England. The ODI leg precedes the T20I leg, and the one-off Test closes the series. The series uses the standard multi-format points framework with the trophy decided across all formats.

The parallel England Women home series against India Women runs in July, but the trail series sits in early August, with the focus then shifting to the England-India multi-format opener at Bristol. Pakistan Women travel to Bangladesh for a parallel multi-format series in August. The South Africa Women home series against the West Indies Women sits in September, with three ODIs and three T20Is. The broadcaster split is the standard regional pattern with Sky Sports holding the England rights and Sony Sports holding the sub-continental rights.

October 2026: World Cup staging and quiet bilateral

October 2026 is dominated by the Women's World Cup 2026 staging in India. The bilateral fixtures are accordingly thin across the month. The tournament's group stage covers the first half of October, with the knockout stages in the second half. The bilateral fixtures resume in the final week of October as the tournament concludes.

The notable bilateral fixtures in October are the Ireland Women's home series against Scotland Women, which serves as the developmental fixture for both sides outside the tournament. The Sri Lanka Women home series against Bangladesh Women sits in late October, with three ODIs and three T20Is. The Zimbabwe Women home tri-series with Namibia Women and Uganda Women - the first formal tri-series in African women's cricket - runs across the back end of the month.

November-December 2026: World Cup hangover and Ashes-Hundred overlap

November starts with the Women's World Cup 2026 closing week, including the semifinals and final. The bilateral fixtures resume in mid-November, with the New Zealand Women home series against Australia Women - a non-Ashes multi-format series - as the headline event. The series uses the multi-format framework with the points race the central narrative.

December 2026 includes the South Africa Women home series against England Women, with three ODIs and three T20Is. The series sits inside the broader South Africa home summer calendar. The India Women home series against Australia Women - the major sub-continental fixture of the calendar - runs in the second half of December. The broadcaster rights split here is the centrepiece of the Prasar Bharati versus Disney Star row.

January-February 2027: WPL and the southern hemisphere window

January 2027 includes the West Indies Women home series against Pakistan Women, with the focus on the Caribbean conditions. The Australia Women home series against South Africa Women - a three-format series - sits in late January and early February. The series is the first major Australian women's home commitment of the new cycle. The senior selectors will use the series to evaluate the squad ahead of the WPL 2027 opening.

The Women's Premier League 2027 sits inside the February-March window, with the senior international players from across the boards involved in the franchise roster. The league's opening week falls in late February, with the tournament's final scheduled for mid-March. The broadcaster rights for the WPL have been renegotiated for the 2027 cycle, with the Tata partnership the lead commercial property.

March 2027: closing window and the qualifier tournaments

March 2027 includes the final bilateral series of the cycle, with the New Zealand Women home series against Bangladesh Women and the England Women away tour of Pakistan Women. The Pakistan Women series is the senior side's first major home commitment in the cycle and is structured as a multi-format series.

The Women's T20 World Cup 2027 Asia Qualifier sits in the second half of March, with the regional sides competing for the global qualifier slots. The Americas Qualifier and the African Qualifier complete the global qualification pathway. The qualifier tournaments operate outside the main FTP framework but sit inside the ICC's women's events calendar.

What to watch across the cycle

Watch the multi-format points races, particularly the Women's Ashes 2026 and the WBBL and WCWC race overlaps. Watch the broadcaster rights resolution in the major markets - particularly the Indian and the South African markets where the commercial structure is being renegotiated. And watch the FTP review committee's recommendations on the women's cycle framework, which will shape the next cycle's architecture.

The bilateral calendar 2026-27 is the most-packed women's international cycle on record. The structural challenge for the cycle will be the player workload management, particularly for the senior players who carry international, bilateral and franchise commitments across the same window.