Tigresses to play 50 int'l matches in ICC's first women's FTP

The Bangladesh women's team will play as many as 50 international matches in the inaugural Future Tours Programme (FTP) set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) during the three-year-cycle between May, 2022 and April, 2025, report agencies.

The ICC announced on Tuesday the structured calendar that includes a total of 301 matches (seven Tests, 135 ODIs and 159 T20s) over a period of three years.

Bangladesh will play 24 ODIs and 26 T20s during this time. They will host four bilateral series while playing four away. They will tour New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and host India, Pakistan, Australia in 2022-25 FTP.

Bangladesh, will have 24 international ODI matches in the new three-year cycle, compared to 11 in the previous cycle. Bangladesh, who had played Australia, England and New Zealand for the first time ever at the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand, will play each of these teams in a bilateral series comprising three matches apiece.

Bangladesh are set for home series against India, Pakistan (2023), Australia and Ireland (2024) and travel to New Zealand, South Africa (2023), Sri Lanka (2023) and West Indies (2025) during their first-ever campaign in the ODI championship.

The Asia Cup will be Bangladesh's first assignment in the FTP. They will fly to New Zealand in December this year to play a bilateral series. Bangladesh will play three ODIs and five T20s at home against Ireland. This is the only series where Bangladesh will play a five-match T20 series. West Indies will be the last team Bangladesh play in the FTP, away from home in January 2025. England are the only team Bangladesh don't have any matches in the FTP.

"This is a huge moment for the women's game," ICC general manager of cricket, Wasim Khan, said in a statement.

"This FTP not only lends certainty to future cricket tours but also sets the base for a structure that is sure to grow in the coming years," Khan added.

According to the ICC, the 2022-25 Women's Championship, teams will generally play three-match bilateral ODI series before the 2025 World Cup.

Many of these series will also be accompanied by T20 international matches, with some teams also giving its consent for five-match WT20 series.

"All bilateral T20 matches count towards respective team rankings, which in turn serves as a primary mechanism for determining the teams that qualify for ICC global events," ICC said in its statement.