Women's cricket: the rules, the ball and the numbers.

Same categories, same Laws

The ICC's Classification of Official Cricket (with effect from 1 July 2026) applies every international and first-class category to men's and women's cricket alike: women's Tests, ODIs, T20 internationals, first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches are defined in the same terms as men's. The Laws of Cricket are also shared. The 2017 Code was the first written in a gender-neutral format, the 3rd Edition (2022) replaced "batsman" with "batter", and the MCC says the 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026) removed all remaining gendered language.

The ICC's history page says the International Women's Cricket Council was founded in 1958 and merged with the ICC in 2005.

International status

Under the July 2026 classification, matches at the Women's Cricket World Cup and its Qualifier are ODIs, and matches at the women's T20 World Cup are T20 internationals. Among Associate Members, women's ODI status is held by the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand and the USA. The same document notes that Afghanistan, a Full Member, does not have women's ODI status.

In England, the classification's appendix lists the Women's One Day Cup as List A and the Women's Blast and the Women's Hundred as Twenty20.

The ICC's women's ODI playing conditions

The ICC runs a Women's Championship for 2025 to 2029 under its own playing conditions, the current version effective July 2026. Among their provisions:

• an ODI is one innings per side of at most 50 overs, scheduled for one day (clause 13.6.1);
• in the Powerplay, no more than two fielders may be outside the fielding restriction area in overs 1 to 10, and no more than four in the remaining overs (clause 28.7.2);
• two new balls are used in alternate overs, but only one per innings in a match cut to 25 overs or fewer per side before the first innings starts (clause 4.3);
• in televised matches with DRS, one umpire comes from an ICC panel and two are appointed by the home board, at least one of them a female umpire from the host's International Panel (clause 2.1.2).

The same document is the main source for the umpires and DRS and Duckworth-Lewis-Stern pages on this site. The ICC's Women's Cricket Committee, together with the Men's Cricket Committee, recommended the changes that took effect on 1 June 2023, including the end of the soft signal and mandatory helmets in three positions (batters facing fast bowling, wicket-keepers standing up to the stumps, and fielders close to the batter in front of the wicket) (ICC, 15 May 2023).

The ball: Size 2

From 1 October 2026, Law 4.1 of the 2026 Laws names the ball traditionally used in women's cricket Size 2: 142 to 149 g in weight and 21.5 to 22 cm round when new. Under the 3rd Edition (2022), Law 4.6 gave the women's ball as 140 to 151 g and 21.0 to 22.5 cm, so the new range is narrower, not simply a new name.

The MCC says the change came from an initiative by current and former women's players at its World Cricket Connects, and that under the old tolerances a small women's ball could be smaller and lighter than a large junior ball. Press reports of the ICC's new playing conditions (Outlook India, 1 October 2026) say the ICC adopted the Size 2 specification from the same date; our research did not find the ICC's own release on these conditions. Which size is used in any match is set by the governing body for that match (Law 4.6).

Helmets: what the bodies say

This is each body's published position. It does not say any helmet is suitable; the standard and the relevant body's rule decide.

• The standard. BSI says BS 7928:2013+A1:2019, the cricket head protector standard, does not cover testing against a women's-size ball.
• The ICC. The ICC's helmets page says there is no women's-specific helmet standard. Because the women's ball sits between the men's and junior sizes, it recommends helmets tested against both, or at least the junior ball, noting that a smaller ball could pass through the gap above the faceguard of a helmet tested only with the men's ball.
• New Zealand Cricket. NZC's Helmet Policy 2024-25 says women must use helmets tested against both the men's and junior sized balls, or at least the junior size.

Two cautions. First, the ICC's own documents name different editions of the standard: its Clothing and Equipment Regulations (effective January 2024) require BS 7928:2013+A1:2019 for the mandatory positions, while its helmets page, its men's ODI playing conditions (effective October 2026) and its men's Test playing conditions (effective June 2025) name BS 7928:2013. Second, the 2026 Laws now call the balls Size 1, 2 and 3, but BS 7928 and the ICC still speak of men's and junior balls, and no source in our research maps one set of names onto the other. Helmet rules by body are on the helmet rules by body page, and the ICC's helmets page says equipment cannot always prevent death or permanent disability.

Fans and players, by date

Each figure is the named body's own claim on the date given.

• ICC, 27 June 2018: its first global market research, run by Nielsen Sports, found 68% of fans interested in women's cricket, and fans 39% female.
• ECB, 20 August 2021: about 27,000 girls among roughly 101,000 children in its All Stars and Dynamos programmes in 2021.
• Cricket Australia, 22 August 2023: 50,377 women and girls in senior and junior clubs and Woolworths Cricket Blast in 2022-23, up 26%.

More figures, with their caveats, are on how many people play.