Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Top women's teams to play Blast, One Day Cup from 2025

Written by 
Published in Cricket
Thursday, 05 September 2024 07:05

England's top women's teams will play in their own version of the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One-Day Cup from next season, aligning the new domestic competitions more closely with those of their male counterparts.

The competitions will replace the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which had been the women's T20 and 50-over contests since 2020. Teams in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup women's competition will still compete to lift the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

The possibility of matching competitions with the potential to play some fixtures as double-headers featuring men's and women's teams from the same clubs has been mooted since the ECB announced an overhaul of the domestic women's structure in February. That was confirmed on Thursday with the announcement that T20 sponsor Vitality and Metro Bank, which currently sponsors the men's 50-over competition, would further their investment in the women's game.

As with the Men's Blast, the women's competition will culminate in a Vitality Blast Women's Finals Day, while the men's and women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup competitions will each have two semi-finals and a final.

In the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, the eight women's teams will compete as Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire and The Blaze, representing Nottinghamshire - who along with the other seven teams were awarded Tier 1 status under the new structure - and surrounds.

The eight women's Blast teams will be Birmingham Bears (representing Warwickshire), Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey and The Blaze.

The top-flight women's competitions are set to expand to include Yorkshire from 2026 and Welsh county Glamorgan from 2027.

A knockout cup competition consisting of teams from all three tiers of the expanded women's domestic structure will also form part of the 2025 schedule with the aim of giving all counties a chance to compete against each other and players across the pyramid the opportunity to test their skills against higher-ranked teams.

In 2025, Tier 2 will comprise Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, Sussex, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.

Beth Barrett-Wild, ECB director of the women's professional game, said: "A big driver for the reorganisation of women's professional cricket has been to enable us to better use the leverage and existing scale of men's county cricket to accelerate fan base growth for our women's teams and players. Looking ahead to the 2025 season, we're therefore really excited to fully align our men's and women's domestic white-ball competitions for the first time.

"As we have seen through the Hundred and alignment of our England Men's and England Women's teams, we believe that by putting our men's and women's competitions and players on the same platform we can exponentially increase the reach of the women's domestic game and intensify the depth of feeling fans have for our women's teams moving forwards."

Under the new professional structure, 8m in new funding will be invested per year into women's domestic cricket by 2027, taking annual investment in this area to about 19m, an injection of funds the ECB believes could produce an 80% increase in the number of professional female players in England and Wales by 2029. Counties will be responsible for deciding player salaries.

Read 54 times

Soccer

Norway FA defends VAR after clubs vote to scrap

Norway FA defends VAR after clubs vote to scrap

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe president of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) launched a...

Axed PL ref Coote: Drug use didn't affect decisons

Axed PL ref Coote: Drug use didn't affect decisons

EmailPrintFormer Premier League referee David Coote has insisted that his drug use had no influence...

Which five Champions League clubs surprised us in the new format?

Which five Champions League clubs surprised us in the new format?

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe first season of the new 36-team, single-league table UEFA Champ...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

SGA stays hot with 52, 'not satisfied' as OKC falls

SGA stays hot with 52, 'not satisfied' as OKC falls

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSAN FRANCISCO -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's second career 50-point g...

Bontemps' NBA All-Star ballot: Locks, star battles and where LeBron and KD check in

Bontemps' NBA All-Star ballot: Locks, star battles and where LeBron and KD check in

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe NBA is set to announce the 14 All-Star reserves tonight. And wh...

Baseball

Sources: Royals boost bullpen with Estévez deal

Sources: Royals boost bullpen with Estévez deal

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCloser Carlos Estévez and Kansas City are in agreement on a two-yea...

Reds acquire reliever Rogers in trade with Giants

Reds acquire reliever Rogers in trade with Giants

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday acquired left-handed reliever Tayl...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated