Last Updated on 4 years ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: ICC set to announce first-ever women’s cricket FTP | ICC to announce Future Tours Programme for women’s cricket
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to unveil the first-ever women’s Future Tour Program (FTP) spanning from 2022-25.
ESPNCricinfo reports that teams will primarily engage in three-match One Day International (ODI) series as per this FTP. These series’ will be a part of the Women’s Championships that will help sides qualify for the 2025 ODI World Cup that will be held in India.
Women’s cricket FTP a huge step in the right direction for the women’s game
“The women’s FTP is going to be published. It’s the first time we have had a long-term plan around women’s series that can give broadcasters and fans a certainty about who is playing who and what time of the year,” Geoff Allardice, chief executive officer (CEO) of the ICC, was quoted in a report by the aforementioned website.
Allardice added, “It is structured around the ICC Women’s Championships through from 2022-25 with a lead up to the next World Cup which will be staged in India.”
Accordingly, the long-drawn demand of having a clear and persistent roadmap for women’s cricket might finally see the light of day in the coming times. Cricket boards have shied away from increasing the number and regularity of games in female cricket due to reported reluctance from the broadcaster’s end so far.
However, Allardice explained that he heard positive feedback from his interactions with some women’s cricket captains in an ICC-hosted panel discussion in Birmingham on Tuesday.
The players apparently informed him about that their schedules have become busier than before. The ICC CEO affirmed that the growth of women’s T20 leagues across the world along with these international games will bring about a very solid calendar for female cricket in the future.
Regardless of these developments, women’s Tests still continue to be an optional product. Only 10 Test matches have been played in women’s cricket since 2014 and all of them since 2017 have eventually resulted in a draw. “I can’t really see women’s Test cricket evolving at any particular speed,” ICC chairman Greg Barclay had quipped in a chat with the BBC Test Match Special recently.
