Ambitious T20 World Cup shows how far women's cricket has come
Lord's will host the final of the women's T20 World Cup in 2026. It will be the first international white-ball final at the venue since the men's World Cup in 2019.
When England last hosted a major women's tournament for the 50-over World Cup in 2017, the matches were held at venues such as Derby, Leicester and Taunton, with only the final held at one of the Test venues, Lord's.
In 2026, six of the seven venues are city-based, high-capacity grounds. Games will be held at Lord's, the Oval, Headingley, Old Trafford, Edgbaston, the Hampshire Bowl and Bristol, which is the sole group-stage venue retained from the last major women's event. Bristol is the only ground in the competition that does not regularly host Test matches.
Arguably, it should be the case that women's matches taking place at the biggest venues in the country is normal, but that has not been the case.
In 2021, playing at Lord's was such a rarity for England Women that Sophie Ecclestone's brother played there before her – in the Village Cup final. Things have changed since then, but there has yet to be a women's Test at Lord's, although one is scheduled for 2026.
The venue choices for next year's T20 World Cup are the culmination of the amount of money poured into the women's game by the England and Wales Cricket Board. In 2017, when Heather Knight's side lifted the World Cup, there were only 18 professional women's cricketers, but in 2025 there are more than 100.
There have been two overhauls of the women's domestic game, from the introduction of the regional set-up in 2020, to the new tier system that started this year. All those developments have been funded by the ECB, and built on a desire to grow the game.
The 2026 tournament in England will be a stark contrast to the Women's World Cup due to be held this autumn in India, where the final is expected to take place at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium in Mullanpur, which has never hosted a women's international before, but has been a regular host of Indian Premier League side Punjab Kings since 2024.
The other cities are Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Raipur and Indore, none of which were used for the most recent men's edition of the tournament in 2023. Two years ago, the final was held in the 100,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the other matches held in large cities across India.
Selecting city-based venues was central to the planning of the 2026 edition of the tournament, with some of the traditional homes for women's cricket, such as Taunton, overlooked in favour of the larger stadiums.
The women's T20 World Cup final in 2020 between Australia and India had a record attendance of 86,174. Although the capacity of Lord's is significantly smaller, the final could have the biggest crowd for a World Cup final held in England.
ECB chief executive officer Richard Gould said: 'We are hugely excited for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, and thrilled to be able to confirm the seven iconic venues that will host the tournament.
'It is of course extra special to announce that the final will be taking place at Lord's. It is one of the finest venues in world cricket and every cricketer dreams of being part of occasions like a World Cup final at Lord's.'
He added: 'We want this competition to be part of a long-term movement, and not just a single moment in time. This World Cup will grow a new generation of fans who didn't grow up with women's cricket but will never imagine sport without it.'
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