| Administrator | ICC Africa |
|---|---|
| Format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin |
| Number of teams | Six (2014) |
| Current champion |  |
| Most successful | |
The ICC Africa Women's T20 Championship is an international cricket tournament contested between the national women's sides from the African development region of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each player. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When ten players have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.
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The first African regional tournament for women's teams was played in Tanzania in 2004, and known simply as the Women's Championship. The next two regional tournaments, in 2006 and 2010, served as part of the qualification process for the Women's World Cup. All matches prior to 2011 were played in the 50-over format (as used in One Day Internationals), but since then, the Twenty20 format has been used, with the tournament played annually. The winners in even-numbered years (so far, 2012 and 2014) proceed to a qualification tournament for the Women's World Twenty20.
Tanzania officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in north-eastern Tanzania.
The Women's World Cup is currently organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Until 2005, when the two organisations merged, it was administered by a separate body, the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC). The first World Cup was held in England in 1973, two years before the inaugural men's tournament. The event's early years were marked by funding difficulties, which meant several teams had to decline invitations to compete and caused gaps of up to six years between tournaments. However, since 2005 World Cups have been hosted at regular four-year intervals.
Twenty20 cricket, sometimes written Twenty-20, and often abbreviated to T20, is a short form of cricket. At the professional level, it was originally introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition in England and Wales. In a Twenty20 game the two teams have a single innings each, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. Together with first-class and List A cricket, Twenty20 is one of the three current forms of cricket recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as being at the highest international or domestic level. A typical Twenty20 game is completed in about three hours, with each innings lasting around 90 minutes and an official 10 minute break between the innings. This is much shorter than previously-existing forms of the game, and is closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a fast-paced form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television.
Only three teams have participated in every edition of the tournament – Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. South Africa, a full member of the ICC, has participated only once, in 2010, when a poor result at the 2009 World Cup meant they had to re-qualify through regional competitions. However, South African invitational teams have participated in every edition since 2011, winning each time. Zimbabwe was the highest-ranked national team in two of those tournaments, which, combined with an additional first-place finish in 2006, makes them the most successful team.
The Kenya national women's cricket team is the team that represents the country of Kenya in international women's cricket. Their first matches were in January 2006 when they played a triangular series against Kenya A and Uganda.
The Tanzanian women's cricket team is the team that represents the country of Tanzania in international women's cricket. They played their first internationals as part of the African regional qualifiers for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in December 2006, when they played Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. They finished second in the tournament behind Zimbabwe.
The Uganda national cricket team, nicknamed the Cricket Cranes, represents the Republic of Uganda in international cricket. The team is organised by the Uganda Cricket Association, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1998.
