The most significant and the biggest tournament in the field of women cricket is the Women’s Cricket World Cup. It is a tournament held after every four years that brings the finest international teams to the ultimate glory in the One Day International (ODI) format. It is even more special that the Women World Cup in fact preceded the Men Cricket World Cup the original version was held in 1973 in England, and the men version was organized two years later.
The tournament has since then expanded to become a major sporting festival with millions of fans worldwide due to the small number of teams back then and limited resources available. The Women’s Cricket has provided us over the years with memorable matches, record breaking performances and superstars like Maithili Raj, Julian Go swami, Belinda Clark, Charlotte Edwards, Alyssa Healy, among others.
Congrats on Women’s Cricket World Cup Start
The Women’s World Cup was inaugurated in 1973 in England two years earlier than the Men’s Cricket World Cup was inaugurated in 1975. This caused it to become the first global World Cup in the history of cricket.
English businessman Sir Jack Hayward funded it, and invested approximately £40,000 in publicizing women’s cricket. The 1973 edition formed the basis of women-cricket in which female sportsmen who were previously marginalized by male-cricket were honored.
Women’s Cricket World Cup Format
- The structure of Women’s Cricket World Cup has changed through the years:
- Early Editions (19731997): Small number of teams, round robin format and then a final.
- Since 2000: ICC standardized the format, in which the stages were as group, semi-final and final.
- Current Format (2022 edition): 8 teams will play a round-robin league phase, which is followed by knockouts (semi-finals and final).
- All the teams would play each of the other teams in the group stage. The four best teams take part in the semi-finals.
Women qualification of the world cup
- Automatic Qualification: Best teams according to the results of the ICC Women’s Championship.
- World Cup Qualifiers: There is another tournament, ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier that other teams participate in.
- This guarantees international involvement, and teams such as Bangladesh, Ireland and Pakistan, also has an opportunity to shine on the global scene.
The Women’s Cricket World Cup (1973 2022) E editions
All the editions will be detailed below:
1973 – England
- Winner: England
Highlights: Women world championship of cricket first time in history.
1978 – India
- Winner: Australia
- Funding was a problem as only four teams got involved.
1982 – New Zealand
- Winner: Australia
Australia maintained their hegemony.
1988 – Australia
- Winner: Australia
Belinda Clark was one of the exceptional stars.
1993 – England
- Winner: England
- Last match at Lords with good attendance and publicity.
1997 – India
- Winner: Australia
- The world cup had 11 teams- the biggest then.
2000 – New Zealand
- Winner: New Zealand
- New Zealand beat Australia, and it was their sole world cup victory.
2005 – South Africa
- Winner: Australia
- India also made their debut final, with Maithili Raj.
2009 – Australia
- Winner: England
A final was a tense affair with England defeating New Zealand.
2013 – India
- Winner: Australia
Australia took their 6th title.
2017 – England
- Winner: England
- Last pre-match at Lords– England won India in a tight score.
An Anya Shrub sol 6/46 is still considered to be among the greatest bowling spells in a final.
2022 – New Zealand
- Winner: Australia
- The 170 runs by Alyssa Healy in the final vs England was a record of the highest individual score in a world cup final.
List of Winners of Women’s World Cup
| Year Host country | Winner Runner-Up | ||
| 1973 | England | England | Australia |
| 1978 | India | Australia | England |
| 1982 | Australia | England | New Zealand. |
| 1988 | Australia | Australia | England. |
| 1993 | England | England | New Zealand |
| 1997 | India | Australia | New Zealand |
| 2000 | New Zealand | New Zealand | Australia. |
| 2005 | South Africa | Australia | India. |
| 2009 | Australia and England and New Zealand. | ||
| 2013 | India | Australia | West Indies |
| 2017 | England | England | India |
| 2022 | Australia | England | New Zealand. |
Most Successful Teams
- Australia -7 titles (the most successful team of all time).
- England – 4 titles.
- New Zealand – 1 title.
- India- Two final appearances but no title
Women’s Cricket World Cup History Iconic Playing Girls
- Belinda Clark (Australia): The first player (male or female) to reach a score of 2 centuries in an ODI.
- Maithili Raj (India): The most successful run-scorer in international women cricket.
- Julian Go swami (India): The most wicket-taker in women world cup history.
- Debbie Hockley (New Zealand): More than 1,500 world cup runs.
- Alyssa Healy (Australia): final record 170 in 2022.
Women’s Cricket World Cup Prize Money
The amount of prize money has grown enormously:
- 2005 edition: Tiny in comparison with those of men.
- 2017 edition: a total prize pool of $2 million.
- 2022 edition: $3.5 million prize pool.
- 2025 and beyond: ICC is moving towards the equal prize money of men and women world cups.
- Popularity and Broadcasting.
Previous editions were limited in their scope, but on this occasion:
- Games are aired across the globe on television and online.
- The final of the World Cup 2022 was watched by record audience in India, Australia and England.
- Online streaming (Disney+ Hotstar, Kayo Sports, Sky Sports) increased in popularity.
The Future of the Women’s World Cup
The 2025 World Cup of cricket is going to be in India, featuring women players. As cricket is being highly popular in India, this version will exceed all records in the viewership.
Greater involvement of associate nations and media coverage will make it one of the largest sporting events of women across the globe.
Frequently Asked Perennial Cricket questions About Women’s
Q1: Who is the most winning women world cup winner?
Australia, with 7 titles
Q2: What was the first Women Cricket world cup?
In 1973, in England
Q3: Who will be the hosts of the 2025 Women Cricket World Cup?
India.
Q4: Who scored the most in a Women world cup final?
Alyssa Healy (Australia) -170 runs in 2022 final.
Q5: Has India won the Women Cricket World Cup?
No, India has been into the final twice (2005 and 2017) and has lost either way.
Conclusion
Since its inception in 1973 to the World Cup in 2022, the Women’s Cricket World Cup has been a journey of development, survival and genius. The dominance of Australia, the consistency of England and the motivating ascendancy of India have made the competition exciting and unpredictable.
The tournament has created heroes such as Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Debbie Hockley and Alyssa Healy who have become the role model of millions. The next Women’s Cricket world cup will have equal prize money and greater recognition than before making the future of the Women Cricket world cup to be brighter than before. The history of this tournament is only getting stronger as fans are looking forward to the 2025 edition in India and that means women in cricket will have earned their right to be on the global stage.
