Women played a cricket World Cup two years before the men did
The first Cricket World Cup was not a men's event. Two years before the men's inaugural tournament, a women's competition in England organised by Jack Hayward featured Young England, an International XI and teams from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, and England won the decisive match at Edgbaston by 92 runs.
Women's international cricket began in 1934, when an England party toured Australia and New Zealand; the first women's Test, played from 28 to 31 December that year, went to England. Those three nations were the only Test sides until 1960. Talks on a World Cup started in 1971, led by Hayward, who had organised England women's tours of the West Indies. South Africa, under pressure over apartheid, was left out, and invitations for five South Africans to join the International XI were later withdrawn.
The 1973 event, a round-robin played in June and July, ended with England facing Australia, who led the table by a single point. England had lost only to New Zealand, so the game became a de facto final, and the hosts took the title. Funding problems dogged the early years, forcing some teams to decline invitations and leaving gaps of up to six years between editions.
The International Women's Cricket Council ran the tournament until it merged with the International Cricket Council in 2005, and since then the 50-over championship has been held every four years. Eleven teams contested the 1997 edition, but the field has been fixed at eight since 2000, with expansion to 10 planned from 2029. Qualification runs through the ICC Women's Championship and a World Cup Qualifier.
Across thirteen editions in five host countries, Australia has dominated with seven titles, missing the final only four times. England has won four and New Zealand one, and India claimed its first in 2025, breaking the monopoly of the three sides that have played every tournament. The West Indies and South Africa have each reached one final without winning.
Source: Women's Cricket World Cup
