Cricket Australia reveals format for new domestic women's T20 tournament

Cricket Australia has announced the format for the new domestic women's T20 tournament, comprising nine teams.

In response to objections from Victoria and New South Wales, the new competition will now be linked to the eight WBBL clubs and an ACT team, replacing the originally-proposed state-based teams. This comes after the aforementioned states expressed concerns that the model could restrict playing opportunities for some of their fringe players.

The solution devised by the states and CA introduced a competition with eight WBBL-affiliated teams and an ACT side from the Women's National Cricket League one-day tournament. This tournament will precede the WBBL season, with each team playing four matches, and the top four advancing to the semi-finals.

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Due to the timing of the tournament, it would run alongside the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh this year, thus excluding Australian national team players. Inadvertently, it will create opportunities for other domestic players. 

With the WBBL being reduced to match the BBL's format to manage leading players' growing workloads, attracting more overseas stars, increasing crowd attendance, and eliminating non-peak-hour games, there was a strong push to ensure state cricketers did not see a decrease in the number of matches.

New South Wales' CEO, Lee Germon, reiterated the state's unwavering support for the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder. He emphasized that the recently-announced tournament would be advantageous for both clubs in their quest for WBBL glory, thus contributing to their overarching goal of developing talent for Australia.

"Cricket NSW has always been committed to the success of the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder and the tournament announced today will help both of our clubs in their quest for WBBL success and to produce players for Australia," remarked Germon as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

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The implementation of the new T20 league is poised to boost the average salary for female domestic players to AU$163,322 for the 2024-25 season. Concurrently, the current WBBL salary cap remains unaltered, ensuring player payments remain steady with no deductions involved.