Bumper prize money but off-pitch turmoil as Women’s Cricket World Cup returns to India

<p>Late ticket sales may squander a golden opportunity with the hosts on a collision course with Australia for the final</p><p>Last time England’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, flew to India for a 50-over World Cup, back during her playing days in 2013, she packed a suitcase full of ketchup. It was a different world: the teams flew economy, no side in the world had professional contracts, and there was no team dietitian to raise an eyebrow at Edwards’s condiment of choice.</p><p>The 2025 World Cup, which begins on Tuesday in Guwahati and concludes with the final on 2 November, might as well be taking place on a different planet. The dizzying changes in women’s cricket over the past 12 years are perhaps best summed up by the growth in tournament prize money. In 2013, it totalled $200,000; this time, it amounts to $13.88m. The eagle-eyed will spot that this is actually more than the $10m total prize pot for the most recent 50-over men’s World Cup – a big statement by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as to the value of the women’s game in the current market.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/29/womens-cricket-world-cup-england-india-australia-preview">Continue reading...</a>