England and Wales Cricket Board to set up three-level event to boost women’s game
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Cricket - England Nets - National Cricket Centre - Loughborough - 6/7/07 ECB Logo Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Henry Browne/ File Photo
REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON – The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said it will increase investment, introduce a three-tiered competition and adopt a new ownership model as part of efforts to help women's professional cricket reach its full potential.
The plans will see the existing eight women’s regional teams become “Tier 1 clubs”, each being undrc the ownership, governance and operation of a specific first class county or the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
The clubs will compete in the top level of an expanded women’s domestic structure from the 2025 season, the ECB said.
The governing body’s chief executive officer Richard Gould said in a statement that while the professionalism of the women’s game had seen significant progress, it was still only “scratching the surface” of its potential.
"To continue moving forward, and to make cricket a gender-balanced sport, we need a change in the ownership model and governance structure underpinning the women's professional game."
The shift in the ownership model would "elevate the status of women's domestic cricket to enable it to go further, grow faster and reach its full potential", he added.
The governing body also said it would invest an extra £4 million to £5 million per year in women's professional cricket from 2025 to 2028, bring its annual investment to £16 million (S$27.1 million). REUTERS
