ECB sees future in women's cricket with latest structural revamp

Recently, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had called for a structural change in women's cricket infrastructure, and asked the counties to show their vision. In a stimulating development, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was successfully able to prompt expressions of interest from the 18 counties and the Marylebone Cricket Club for ownership of eight women’s teams. The bidding process could be cited as a major success, with 16 out of 18 counties submitting tenders.

The eight counties successful in securing Tier-1 women's team status from 2025 are Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, Durham, Hampshire, Essex, Nottinghamshire, and Warwickshire. Moreover, Derbyshire and Worcestershire were the two teams that withdrew due to financial limitations. Further, the board aims to extend Tier-1 to consist of 12 teams by 2029, although no decisions have been made regarding the guidelines that would govern the selection of these teams.

A panel consisting of Ebony Rainford-Brent, Neil Snowball, Kelly Simmons, and Maggie Murphy reviewed the 16 applications, with a focus on criteria such as vision, cricket quality (player development), accessibility to facilities, and long-term values, among other considerations.

The Director of Women’s Professional Game for the ECB, Beth Barrett-Wild, said that she was fascinated with the time and energy expended by the first-class counties to display their long-term vision to the women's professional game, and that she was mighty impressed by the calibre and intention exhibited via the bids put forward.

“Over the last couple of months, it’s been brilliant to see the time and energy that has gone into the submissions, and I’ve been hugely impressed by the quality and ambition of the bids. I’m energized about what comes next,” Beth said.

Regional teams to undergo dissolution

Notably, the clubs not granted Tier-1 status in the first-class category, as well as national counties, will have the opportunity to engage in a process to create Tier-2 and Tier-3 teams. The teams selected to comprise the lower rungs are slated to be announced by September 2024, and activated beginning from the 2025 season and thereafter.

As a protocol of the process, there will be a dissolution of regional teams, commensurate to how crystals of sugar solvate into water on constant stirring. The mantle for nurturing and boosting women's teams with respect to their refinement and fine-tuning will be assumed by the counties themselves.