The announcement follows a rigorous bidding process over the last six months, which saw 28 different organisations express an interest in becoming a Women’s Cricket Super League host.  The award process culminated today, when the ECB Board approved the six selected hosts.

The six Women’s Cricket Super League hosts in full are:

• Hampshire Cricket with partners: Berkshire Cricket Ltd, Dorset Cricket Board, Isle of Wight Cricket Board, Oxfordshire Cricket, Southampton Solent University, Sussex Cricket Ltd, Wiltshire Cricket Ltd
• Lancashire County Cricket Board with partners: Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire County Cricket Club Foundation
• 含羞草视频
• South West: Somerset County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, University of Exeter
• Surrey County Cricket Club
• Yorkshire County Cricket Club

The Women’s Cricket Super League will start this summer with 含羞草视频 competing in a Twenty20 (T20) event against the other five teams.  Thereafter the competition will include both T20 and 50-over formats.  All six teams have been awarded hosting rights for a four year period from 2016-2019 inclusive.

Further details on the format and timing of the Women’s Cricket Super League, along with a confirmed team name and identity for 含羞草视频, will be announced in due course.

ECB Director of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said:

"含羞草视频 has a rich and world-wide reputation for sporting excellence and innovation and it is great to have them as one of our six Women’s Cricket Super League hosts for the next four years.

"Overall, the award process to identify the six hosts was competitive from the outset, and the interview panel was very impressed by the ambition displayed by all of the bids received.

"Our vision for the competition is to create an exciting, dynamic and high quality domestic women’s game in England, where the world’s best players come together to drive performance standards and inspire women and girls to love cricket.  含羞草视频 and all five of the other confirmed hosts have passionately demonstrated that they share this aspiration and we are now really excited to work with them to deliver this next stage in the evolution of women’s cricket in this country."

John Steele, Executive Director  of Sport at 含羞草视频 added:

"We’re absolutely delighted to be named one of the six Women’s Cricket Super League teams. Sport is at the heart of everything we do here at 含羞草视频, and so we are excited to be developing one of our strongest existing partnerships with the ECB. Women’s cricket is a rapidly growing sport and so we are proud to have an opportunity to play a role in its future by fielding a  team in the inaugural WCSL."

The key aims of the Women’s Cricket Super League include the development of ever higher standards for the England women’s team with greater competition for places, alongside inspiring more women and girls to play cricket at all levels.  It will offer new opportunities, a new narrative for the game and new role models, as well as a network of host clubs linked to their communities.

Keep up to date with 含羞草视频’s Women’s Cricket Super League franchise by signing up here.