Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire were given Tier 1 status by the ECB in April this year as part of restructuring women's domestic cricket from next year. The two competitions will replace the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which were women's T20 and 50-over contests since 2020.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the T20 Blast, the eight women\u2019s teams will compete as Birmingham Bears (Warwickshire), Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey and The Blaze (Nottinghamshire). In the One-Day Cup, the eight women\u2019s teams will compete as Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire and The Blaze.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Like the T20 Blast Men\u2019s Finals Day, the women\u2019s competition will culminate in a similar Finals Day. The men\u2019s and women\u2019s One-Day Cup competitions will each have two semifinals and a flagship final. A knock-out cup competition consisting of teams from all three tiers of the expanded women\u2019s domestic structure will also form part of the 2025 schedule.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cA big driver for the re-organisation of women\u2019s professional cricket has been to enable us to better use the leverage and existing scale of men\u2019s county cricket to accelerate fanbase growth for our women\u2019s teams and players. Looking ahead to the 2025 season, we\u2019re therefore really excited to fully align our men\u2019s and women\u2019s domestic white-ball competitions for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe next step in the growth of the women\u2019s professional game is to produce commercially vibrant and visible teams and competitions that excite fans and continue to showcase the quality of women\u2019s cricket.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAs we have seen through The Hundred and alignment of our England Men\u2019s and England Women\u2019s teams, we believe that by putting our men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions and players on the same platform we can exponentially increase the reach of the women\u2019s domestic game and intensify the depth of feeling fans have for our women\u2019s teams moving forwards.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank both Charlotte Edwards and the family of Rachael Heyhoe Flint for allowing us to name our two domestic trophies the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy during this first chapter in the professionalization of women\u2019s domestic cricket.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThere are no two women in the history of the game in this country who are more synonymous with and symbolic of the progress that has been made in recent times, and it was truly fitting that their names be lent to our first women\u2019s professional competitions across the 2020 to 2024 seasons. Teams in the Metro Bank One Day Cup women\u2019s competition will compete to lift the Rachael Heyhoe Flint trophy,\u201d said Beth Barrett-Wild, Director of the Women\u2019s Professional Game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank both Charlotte Edwards and the family of Rachael Heyhoe Flint for allowing us to name our two domestic trophies the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy during this first chapter in the professionalization of women\u2019s domestic cricket.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Also Read: <\/b> Funding For Test Cricket<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n