Women's Emerging Nations Trophy 2026 starts in Ajman with ten teams

The Women's Emerging Nations Trophy 2026, a T20 international tournament run by the International Cricket Council (ICC), begins in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, 12 November 2026. Ten teams take part, up from eight at the first edition in 2025, and for the first time five Full Member nations (Bangladesh, Ireland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe) join the Associate Member sides. The final is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 November 2026, at the Karwan Sports Club Cricket Ground.

The tournament is built for players who are on the edge of senior international cricket. For the Associate teams, the ICC members without Full Member status, it is one of the few chances each year to play a run of T20 internationals against stronger opposition. For the Full Members, it is a way to give younger and less-capped players match time outside their main women's sides, as Sri Lanka's choice of a stand-in captain shows.

The ICC presented the change in field as a step up for the event. Its general manager for events and cricket operations, Gaurav Saxena, said when the line-up was announced that mixing Full Members with Associates would give players more meaningful international matches and let them test themselves against a wider range of opposition.

The first edition showed how close these teams can be. In 2025 Thailand took the title on net run rate, a tie-break based on runs scored and conceded per over. This year the Associate sides, including the holders, face Full Member opponents in both groups, which makes qualification for the Super Six harder to predict.

India is not one of the ten teams. For young Indian readers who follow women's cricket, the event is still worth watching as a guide to where the game is growing: several of the countries taking part, such as Thailand, the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea, are building women's programmes that could meet India's sides in future ICC qualifiers and World Cups.

Peepals calculation: in each five-team group, every side plays the other four once, which makes 10 matches per group and 20 in the group stage (5 × 4 ÷ 2 = 10, times two groups). In the Super Six, each of the three qualifiers from one group plays the three from the other, which adds 9 matches (3 × 3), and the final makes one more: 20 + 9 + 1 = 30, matching the ICC's total. The field has grown from eight to ten teams, a rise of 25% (2 ÷ 8). The group stage packs 20 matches into seven days from 12 to 18 November, close to three a day. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: the first week decides which six teams move on. With five Full Members and five Associates split evenly across the two groups, each Associate side must beat at least one stronger-ranked opponent to stay in the hunt.

Long-term: if the ten-team format with Full Members continues, the event could become a regular step between age-group cricket and senior international women's cricket, giving players from smaller cricket countries more matches against established sides.

Who is affected: young and uncapped women cricketers in the ten squads, the national boards that use the event to test new players, and the Associate nations that depend on ICC events for regular fixtures.

What to watch next: the end of the group stage on Wednesday, 18 November, when the six Super Six teams are known, and the final at the Karwan Sports Club Cricket Ground on Wednesday, 25 November 2026.

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