An opportunity exists to inspire young women cricketers at the 2026 T20 World Cup

On a blustery but thankfully dry Sunday, June 7, the 12 captains of teams in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2026 assembled on Waterloo Bridge, London.

The event was termed a carnival and was followed by a press conference in a less windswept venue nearby. There, for the purpose of two consecutive question-and-answer sessions, the captains were divided into the groups in which they will play their round-robin matches. The top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals.

A tournament of 12 teams is the most that the T20 World Cup has comprised. In the inaugural event in 2009, hosted in England and Wales, there were eight teams, a number that remained the same in 2010 and 2012, before expanding to 10 in the next six editions. In 2028, 12 teams will participate with Pakistan as the hosts. Ten teams will automatically qualify – the top eight placed teams in the 2026 edition, the host, if not already qualified and the next highest ranked side(s) as of July 6, 2026. A 10-team global qualifying system will generate the other two teams. Expansion to 16 teams is planned for 2030, reflecting the continuing growth and appeal of women’s cricket.

This theme was a feature of the captains’ responses at the press conference. Amelia Kerr, New Zealand’s captain and player of the match and tournament in their victorious 2024 World Cup campaign, spoke eloquently. She said that the 2024 win was special, in that two players, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, had been the inspiration for her when watching the 2010 T20 World Cup. Then, Australia narrowly defeated New Zealand by three runs in Barbados. Bates and Devine, now 38 and 36, respectively, are in the current squad. Kerr pointed out that when they made their debuts back in 2006,