Kent plans to bid for professional women's team in 2025

In a departure from the current South East Stars regional setup, Kent intends to bid for one of the eight professional women's teams in England's premier domestic competition. Surrey, another major contributor to the Stars team, have already declared its intention to take complete control of South East Stars. Notably, the women's competition currently features the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy (50-over) and the Charlotte Edwards Cup (20-over).

In February this year, the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) invited submissions from the 18 first-class county cricket clubs and the MCC for the formation of eight women's professional Tier 1 clubs. These teams will take part in the higher level of an expanded three-tier women's domestic structure from the start of the 2025 season. The ECB's objective is to align teams more closely with existing counties and their men's teams. Meanwhile, Kent officially announced on Friday, March 8, that it would be submitting its Tier 1 bid to the ECB later in March, with hopes of receiving the outcome later this year.

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“The opportunity to be a professional cricketer in Kent would be a completely different prospect to how my personal journey has been so far. Being able to train and practice as much as a men's county side, using the facilities they use, and having access to the same level of support staff, would be an absolute game changer for us. I'm hoping that our bid is successful and that Kent Women can once again compete against the best domestic sides in the country for silverware," said Megan Belt, Kent Women's Captain.

Kent Women, known as 'The Horses', boast an impressive record with 10 league championships and five T20 titles to their name. Their dominance was reaffirmed when they clinched the last Women's County Championship in 2019. Prominent homegrown international representatives in the club include Tammy Beaumont, Tash Farrant, and Alice Davidson-Richards, alongside retired star Lydia Greenway.

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Simon Cook, Kent's director of cricket, stated the club was "determined to provide a professional cricketing future for aspiring young female cricketers from our county".

"We've seen local talent win the biggest prizes on the biggest stages in regional, franchise, and international cricket over many years now, and there's an excitement around Kent that we can produce more elite cricketers for many years to come. A professional Kent Women side would continue to produce England players through our extensive talent identification and training programmes and facilities," he further added.