The Cricket Bulletin: Major Talking Points | April 18, 2026

Rwanda to host inaugural ICC Women’s Challenge Trophy

Rwanda will host the inaugural ICC Women’s Challenge Trophy from April 18. The matches will be played at Gahanga Cricket Stadium, with two adjoining grounds which host international cricket – Gahanga Cricket Stadium Main Oval and Gahanga Cricket Stadium Oval B. The tournament will run till May 1 and feature five teams chosen through the regional Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2025. Rwanda will kick off the tournament by taking on Italy in the opening game, whereas Nepal take on the USA.

This is a new event added to the ICC’s calendar to provide more exposure to the Associate Nations, like Emerging Nations Trophy that was held last year. “A double round-robin format assures maximum match exposure for teams, so that participants are better prepared to play stronger opposition in the years to come,” the ICC said in a statement. “This falls in line with the ICC’s commitment to deliver competitive cricket with context for all its members as it moves to continuously grow the women’s game.”

Australia to tour Bangladesh for a bilateral after 15 years

Australia will tour Bangladesh to play six white-ball matches- three ODIs and three T20Is in June. This will mark Australia’s return to Bangladesh to play a bilateral men’s ODI series for the first time in 15 years. The ODIs will take place on June 9, 11, 14 in Dhaka, whereas the T20Is will be played on June 17, 19, and 21 in Chattogram.

Australia last played a bilateral series in Bangladesh in 2021, and the home side had won the T20Is series 4-1. Meanwhile, Bangladesh will host Pakistan for a two-match Test series in May as part of the ICC World Test Championship. Australia, on the other hand, are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series in Pakistan.

Salman Ali Agha considering T20I break to focus on ODI WC 2027

Pakistan’s national T20 captain, Salman Ali Agha, said that he would take a break from T20 cricket if required to prepare for the next year’s ODI World Cup and the ICC World Test Championship. The ODI World Cup is scheduled to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in October and November, next year. “The World Cup is a long way to go, but yes, one has to think about managing one’s schedule and workload. If I feel it (break) can help me in preparing for the World Cup and Tests I will do it,” Salman told reporters.

He further talked about the Pakistan Super League. According to him, it is not current to pick young players directly from the league for international cricket. “I would rather like to see a process where we identify strong young talent in the PSL and send them to play in domestic cricket and then review their performances and decide if they are ready for international cricket,” he added.