Middlesex Women’s cricket captain Izzy Westbury says she is excited by the prospect of a T20 Super League to be launched next summer.
The six-team competition, unveiled by the ECB on Thursday, will feature overseas players, television coverage and, for the first time in domestic women’s cricket in England, prize money.
It will run for a two-week period, separate to the existing 50-over and T20 county competitions, and will be backed by £3m of investment.
And Westbury, who will hope to be playing in the new tournament, believes it will boost the profile of the domestic women’s game.
She told West London Sport: “It’s a thoroughly good thing and something that’s been a long time coming.
“There’s still a few details yet to emerge, like player payments and broadcast rights, but they have the basic framework.
“I didn’t think something like this would happen before they revamped the men’s T20 so it shows that the women’s game is leading the way, not just following the guys.”
The ECB says ‘cricket-minded organisations’ can bid to be one of the six inaugural teams and Westbury suggested this will widen the scope of the tournament beyond city or regional franchises.
She added: “It might mean Loughborough University [where the ECB’s performance centre is based] or the MCC bidding for a team.
“We’ve not got any ingrained traditions or attachments to county teams like the men’s game has so we’ve got a bit more freedom to be innovative.”
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This post was last modified on 06/08/2015