The 2018 international cricket season was from May 2018 to September 2018. 16 Test matches, 27 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and 33 Twenty20 International (T20Is), as well as 14 Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 81 Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), were played during this period.
The season started with India leading the Test cricket rankings, England leading the ODI rankings, Pakistan leading the Twenty20 rankings, and Australia women leading the women's rankings. This season was also the first to be scheduled under the 2018–2023 Future Tours Programme. In addition, all women's Twenty20 matches played between member sides after 1 July were given full international status and classified as WT20Is, as per a decision made by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in April 2018. The first WT20Is to be classified as such under these new rules took place at the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Men's international cricket started with Pakistan's tour of Ireland, which included a one-off Test match that Pakistan won. The Test match was Ireland's first. This season also included Afghanistan's first Test match and Nepal's first ODI matches. Scotland beat England for the first time in ODIs after winning the one-off ODI in Edinburgh. Scotland's innings total of 371/5 was the highest score by an Associate team against a Full Member team. In the 3rd ODI of Australia's tour of England, England scored a new record high ODI innings total of 481/6 off 50 overs.
The qualification process for the 2023 Cricket World Cup started with the World Cricket League Division Four tournament that was held in Malaysia. Uganda and Denmark were promoted to Division Three while Vanuatu and Bermuda were relegated to Division Five.
The qualification process for the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup continued in this season. The Africa Eastern Sub Region Qualifier was held in Rwanda and saw Kenya and Uganda qualify for the Africa Regional Qualifier. The Europe Group A, B, and C Sub Region Qualifiers were held in the Netherlands. Denmark, Germany, Guernsey, Italy, Jersey, and Norway qualified for the Europe Regional Qualifier. The East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Group A Sub Region Qualifier was conducted and Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu qualified for the EAP Region Qualifier.
Women's international cricket started off with Bangladesh's tour of South Africa. In the first WODI of New Zealand's tour of Ireland, New Zealand scored a new record total in a WODI innings of 490/4 off 50 overs. The Women's Asia Cup saw a number of upsets occur. Bangladesh advanced to their first Asia Cup final after recording their first wins against India and Pakistan in WT20Is, and Thailand recorded their first victory over a Full Member nation after beating Sri Lanka. Bangladesh went on beat India in the final, to win their first Asia Cup title. In the first WT20I of the Women's T20 Tri-Series in England, New Zealand scored a new record total in a WT20I innings of 216/1 off 20 overs against South Africa. Later the same day, England broke the WT20I record, scoring 250/3, also against South Africa.
Season overview Men's international tours Start date Home team Away team Results [Matches] Test ODI T20I 0−1 — — 1−1 — — World XI — — 1−0 — — 3−0 1−1 — — — 1−0 — — — 0−2 — 5−0 1−0 1−0 — — — — 0−2 4−1 2−1 1−2 2–0 1−2 1–2 2−0 2−3 1−0 — 0−5 — — — 0−0 — 1−1 — — 1−2 0−2 Men's international tournaments Start date Tournament Winners 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Four 2018 Netherlands Tri-Nation Series 2018 Zimbabwe Tri-Nation Series
Women's international tours Start date Home team Away team Results [Matches] WTest WODI WT20I — 5–0 3–0 — 0–3 0–1 — 2–1 — — — 1−2 — 2−1 — Women's international tournaments Start date Tournament Winners 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup 2018 England women's Tri-Nation Series 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier
Rankings
The following are the rankings at the beginning of the season, following the ICC's annual re-weighting.
ICC Test Championship 1 May 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 28 3499 125 2 32 3589 112 3 33 3499 106 4 23 2354 102 5 36 3511 98 6 31 2914 94 7 17 1463 86 8 16 1202 75 9 22 1484 67 10 8 12 2
ICC ODI Championship 2 May 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 42 5257 125 2 45 5492 122 3 34 3842 113 4 41 4602 112 5 32 3327 104 6 32 3279 102 7 24 2220 93 8 43 3302 77 9 29 1989 69 10 28 1758 63 11 37 2021 55 12 20 766 38
ICC T20I Championship 2 May 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 23 2990 130 2 15 1894 126 3 32 3932 123 4 22 2542 116 5 17 1951 115 6 18 2058 114 7 18 2048 114 8 22 1917 87 9 27 2287 85 10 21 1570 75 11 9 592 66 12 14 817 58 13 8 421 53 14 12 608 51 15 10 420 42 16 7 270 39 17 11 358 33
ICC Women's Rankings 12 April 2018 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 55 7284 132 2 49 6134 125 3 57 6900 121 4 62 7101 115 5 48 4725 98 6 62 5775 93 7 52 3920 75 8 52 3256 63 9 19 704 37 10 17 504 30
April 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Four
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result 1st Match 29 April Roger Mukasa Anwar Arudin Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 9 runs 2nd Match 29 April Hamid Shah Terryn Fray Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 8 wickets 3rd Match 29 April Charles Perchard Andrew Mansale UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 7 wickets 4th Match 30 April Anwar Arudin Andrew Mansale Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 23 runs 5th Match 30 April Hamid Shah Charles Perchard Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 7 wickets (DLS) 6th Match 30 April Roger Mukasa Terryn Fray UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 189 runs 7th Match 2 May Terryn Fray Charles Perchard Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 58 runs 8th Match 2 May Roger Mukasa Andrew Mansale Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 81 runs 9th Match 2 May Anwar Arudin Hamid Shah UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 33 runs 10th Match 3 May Roger Mukasa Hamid Shah Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 1 run (DLS) 11th Match 3 May Anwar Arudin Charles Perchard Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 10 runs (DLS) 12th Match 3 May Terryn Fray Andrew Mansale UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 4 wickets 13th Match 5 May Hamid Shah Andrew Mansale Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 5 wickets 14th Match 5 May Anwar Arudin Terryn Fray Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur No result 15th Match 5 May Roger Mukasa Charles Perchard UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara No resultReplays 14th Match 6 May Anwar Arudin Terryn Fray Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 89 runs 15th Match 6 May Roger Mukasa Charles Perchard UKM Cricket Oval, Bandar Kinrara by 7 runs
Final standings Pos Team Status 1st Promoted to Division Three for 2018 2nd 3rd Remained in Division Four 4th 5th Relegated to Division Five 6th
May Bangladesh women in South Africa
WODI series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WODI 1110 4 May Dane van Niekerk Rumana Ahmed Senwes Park, Potchefstroom by 106 runs WODI 1111 6 May Dane van Niekerk Rumana Ahmed Senwes Park, Potchefstroom by 9 wickets WODI 1112 9 May Dane van Niekerk Rumana Ahmed Diamond Oval, Kimberley by 9 wickets WODI 1113 11 May Chloe Tryon Rumana Ahmed Diamond Oval, Kimberley by 154 runs WODI 1114 14 May Dane van Niekerk Rumana Ahmed Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein by 6 wickets WT20I series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WT20I 413 17 May Chloe Tryon Salma Khatun Diamond Oval, Kimberley by 17 runs WT20I 414 19 May Dane van Niekerk Salma Khatun Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein by 32 runs WT20I 415 20 May Dane van Niekerk Salma Khatun Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein by 23 runs
Pakistan in Ireland
Only Test No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result Test 2303 11–15 May William Porterfield Sarfaraz Ahmed The Village, Dublin by 5 wickets
Pakistan in England
Test series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result Test 2304 24–28 May Joe Root Sarfaraz Ahmed Lord's, London by 9 wickets Test 2305 1–5 June Joe Root Sarfaraz Ahmed Headingley, Leeds by an innings and 55 runs
Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge
West Indies v World XI T20I No. Date West Indies Captain World XI Captain Venue Result T20I 666 31 May Carlos Brathwaite Shahid Afridi Lord's, London by 72 runs
June Bangladesh vs Afghanistan in India
T20I series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result T20I 667 3 June Asghar Stanikzai Shakib Al Hasan Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun by 45 runs T20I 668 5 June Asghar Stanikzai Shakib Al Hasan Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun by 6 wickets T20I 669 7 June Asghar Stanikzai Shakib Al Hasan Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun by 1 run
2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result WT20I 416 3 June Harmanpreet Kaur Winifred Duraisingam Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 142 runs WT20I 417 3 June Salma Khatun Shashikala Siriwardene Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 6 wickets WT20I 418 3 June Bismah Maroof Sornnarin Tippoch Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 8 wickets WT20I 419 4 June Salma Khatun Bismah Maroof Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 7 wickets WT20I 420 4 June Harmanpreet Kaur Sornnarin Tippoch Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 66 runs WT20I 421 4 June Shashikala Siriwardene Winifred Duraisingam Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 90 runs WT20I 422 6 June Bismah Maroof Shashikala Siriwardene Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 23 runs WT20I 423 6 June Sornnarin Tippoch Winifred Duraisingam Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 9 wickets WT20I 424 6 June Harmanpreet Kaur Salma Khatun Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 7 wickets WT20I 426 7 June Salma Khatun Sornnarin Tippoch Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 9 wickets WT20I 427 7 June Bismah Maroof Winifred Duraisingam Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 147 runs WT20I 428 7 June Harmanpreet Kaur Shashikala Siriwardene Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 7 wickets WT20I 429 9 June Harmanpreet Kaur Bismah Maroof Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 7 wickets WT20I 430 9 June Shashikala Siriwardene Sornnarin Tippoch Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur by 4 wickets WT20I 431 9 June Salma Khatun Winifred Duraisingam Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 70 runsFinal WT20I 432 10 June Harmanpreet Kaur Salma Khatun Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur by 3 wickets
Sri Lanka in West Indies
Sobers–Tissera Trophy Test series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result Test 2306 6–10 June Jason Holder Dinesh Chandimal Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain by 226 runs Test 2308 14–18 June Jason Holder Dinesh Chandimal Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, Gros Islet Match drawn Test 2309 23–27 June Jason Holder Suranga Lakmal Kensington Oval, Bridgetown by 4 wickets
New Zealand women in Ireland
Only WT20I No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WT20I 425 6 June Laura Delany Suzie Bates YMCA Cricket Club, Dublin by 10 wickets WODI series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WODI 1115 8 June Laura Delany Suzie Bates YMCA Cricket Club, Dublin by 346 runs WODI 1117 10 June Laura Delany Amy Satterthwaite The Hills Cricket Club, Dublin by 306 runs WODI 1119 13 June Laura Delany Suzie Bates Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin by 305 runs
South Africa women in England
2017–20 ICC Women's Championship – WODI series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result WODI 1116 9 June Heather Knight Dane van Niekerk New Road, Worcester by 7 wickets WODI 1118 12 June Heather Knight Dane van Niekerk County Cricket Ground, Hove by 69 runs WODI 1120 15 June Heather Knight Dane van Niekerk St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury by 7 wickets
England in Scotland
Only ODI No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result ODI 4008 10 June Kyle Coetzer Eoin Morgan The Grange Club, Edinburgh by 6 runs
2018 Netherlands Tri-Nation Series