Bangladesh women's team to play 50 international matches in ICC's first women's FTP

Bangladesh women's team are scheduled to play 50 international matches from December 2022 to January 2025 as part of the upcoming ICC FTP (Future Tour Programme). The ICC published its first-ever women's FTP on Tuesday. The women's FTP reveals the international obligations for all sides until the end of April 2025, leading up to the ICC Women's World Cup in India. 

In total, there will be over 300 international women's games played during the next period, which features a total of seven Test matches, 135 ODIs and 159 T20Is.

Bangladesh will play 24 ODIs and 26 T20Is during this time. They will host four bilateral series while playing four away. 

England are the only team Bangladesh don't have any matches in the FTP.

There's the resumption of the T20 Asia Cup after a gap in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The window for it is in the first half of October this year. The venue for it hasn't been finalised yet. Bangladesh are the current champions as they beat India in 2018 final. 

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. The tour, like most of Bangladesh's series in FTP, consists of three ODIs and three T20Is. Tigresses' next assignment will be an away series against Sri Lanka in January 2023 before hosting India and Pakistan in June-July and October-November next year respectively. 

Bangladesh's next series will be against South Africa away from home in December 2023. The Tigresses will host the world champions Australia in March-April 2024.

Bangladesh will play three ODIs and five T20Is at home against Ireland. This is the only series where Bangladesh will play a five-match T20I series. 

West Indies will be the last team Bangladesh play in the FTP, away from home in January 2025. 

After the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February 2023, there is a gap in the FTP from March to May for all teams, which is set to serve as a window for the inaugural women's IPL as well as the FairBreak Invitational T20 tournament in Hong Kong.

One of the highlights of the women's calendar is England's next trip to Australia for the multi-format Ashes series. It will be a standalone series at the start of 2025, with the corresponding men's series coming later that year.

ICC General Manager of Cricket, Wasim Khan, said the confirmation of the first-ever women's FTP was a watershed moment for women's cricket.

"This is a huge moment for the women's game," Khan said. "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," he said.