Women’s cricket: Domestic game in England enters new era

A new era in women’s cricket in England begins this week with the opening top-tier fixtures of the One-Day Cup campaign on Wednesday.

The domestic game has been in something of a state of flux in recent years, but the 2025 season will take on a new look which the ECB hope will last for years to come.

A 35-team county competition of varying standard ended in 2019, and since 2020, counties have fed into eight regional teams, which have formed the top tier of women’s cricket, competing in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

This summer it will be replaced by a three-tiered domestic competition structure made up of teams from individual counties.

The ECB has called it “the next stage in the evolution of women’s cricket” and says it will invest a further £4m to £5m into the game between 2025 and 2028, taking the total to around £16m.

The ECB hopes the plans could lead to an 80% increase in professional women’s players in England and Wales by 2029.

A year ago the eight counties awarded Tier 1 status were Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire.

Yorkshire said they were “surprised and disappointed” not to be in the top tier, making a case to the ECB, which – a month after the initial announcement – agreed to allow them into Tier 1 from 2026. Glamorgan will be allowed in from 2027.

Last July, the ECB announced the Tier 2 clubs: Derbyshire, Glamorgan (until 2027), Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, Sussex, Worcestershire and Yorkshire (until 2026).

Overall, the Tier 1 counties will be required to have a minimum of 15 contracted players with a minimum salary of £20,000, the same as new male players.

Those counties will be required to invest a minimum of £500,000 on player salary costs, but not exceed £800,000.

Women in Tier 2 will have no such guarantee – most will likely be semi-professional, with pay left up to their individual clubs.

The eight top-tier sides will contest the One-Day Cup and T20 Blast while the 10 Tier 2 sides will compete in Division Two of those competitions, while more than a dozen more National Counties will join them to take part in the new Women’s County Cup.

There will be no promotion or relegation for the first three seasons, though the top tier will be expanded in 2029 to include two more teams, but the ECB has not yet decided which ones.

You can see the eight Tier 1 squad lists here., external