Tuesday 13 October 2015 15:33, UK
The ICC has approved changes to the format of the Women's World Cup in 2017 and guaranteed a dramatic increase in prize money.
All eight teams at the World Cup will now play a minimum of seven matches during the tournament, which is to be held in England in a round-robin format, with the top four sides progressing to the semi-finals.
This means there will be a total of 31 matches, compared to 25 in 2013, with $1m (£660,000) allocated as a prize fund for the tournament.
The announcement, made after the ICC's final meeting of the year in Dubai, also confirmed a total of $65m (£42.7m) has been allocated to men's and women's events in the period from 2016 to 2023 - a 41 percent increase on the previous eight years.
The improved standard and professionalism in women's cricket has been rewarded by a five-fold increase in the cash allocated to the six ICC women's events, with total prize money of $4.4m (£2.9m) during the period, including the $1m for the World Cup.
The side that tops the ICC Test Championship table at the April 1 cut-off each year will see its prize-money doubled, receiving $1m instead of the current $500,000.
That money is in addition to the Test Cricket Fund of $70m (£46m), which the ICC introduced last year to help ensure Test-playing sides are able to sustain a home programme of Test cricket through to 2023.
The fund will be available from next year to all Test members except India, Australia and England.
A second edition of the ICC Women's Championship is also to be played post 2017 - guaranteeing each side a minimum of 21 ODIs over a two-year period.
