ICC Women’s T20 World Cup
The bridge becomes the pitch
Waterloo Bridge is built for buses and black cabs. For one day, it was built for cricket.
The ICC needed to launch the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a moment big enough to match the scale of where women’s cricket has got to.
Not an announcement. A statement – one that could put twelve competing nations, and the tournament itself, in front of the world before a ball was bowled.
We closed one of London’s busiest river crossings and laid down a live pitch. For one day, Waterloo Bridge swapped traffic for cricket, framed by Big Ben, the London Eye and St Paul’s Cathedral, and became the stage for the Captains’ Carnival.
All 12 competing nations sent their captain – their first public appearance together, ahead of the tournament. Fans played street cricket alongside them. Broadcast crews and social teams worked the bridge from every angle, capturing a day built to travel far beyond the people standing on it.
"Seeing these 12 captains playing cricket in a global first on an iconic London stage is a sign of how far the women's game has come and where it's headed."
Richard Thompson, ICC Director & Chair, England and Wales Cricket Board
Twelve captains stood on a cricket pitch on Waterloo Bridge, together, for the first time. The Guardian, the ICC and the ECB all covered it. ICC.tv and the ICC YouTube channel carried it live, amplified again across every participating nation’s channels.
By the time the tournament arrived, more than 200,000 tickets had already sold – a record for a Women’s T20 World Cup, before a single ball was bowled.
The tournament hadn't started. Women's cricket had already stopped London in its tracks.
