The landscape of international women’s cricket is changing, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earning One Day International (ODI) status for the 2025–2029 cycle. This update, effective from May 12, sees the UAE officially replace the United States of America (USA) among the 16 women’s teams with ICC ODI status.
The UAE achieved this milestone by being the next highest-ranked associate nation on the ICC Women’s T20I rankings, currently sitting at 16th. The new list of ODI-status teams now includes five associate nations: Thailand, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Scotland, and the UAE.
Meanwhile, the USA women’s team is on tour in Zimbabwe. They lost the T20I series 2-1 but started the ODI series with a seven-wicket win. The final match of the series is scheduled for today.
To keep or gain ODI status, associate teams must play at least eight ODIs during a three to four-year period. Thailand and Scotland secured their status by participating in the recent Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers in Pakistan. Scotland performed well, finishing fourth after beating higher-ranked teams like the West Indies and Thailand. Thailand, however, struggled and finished last in the tournament.
PNG and the Netherlands retained their ODI status based on their T20I rankings, without playing in the qualifiers.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have both qualified for the upcoming ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in India. Australia remains at the top of the ODI rankings with 299 points, ahead of second-placed England with 279.