Women's T20 Blast

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Women's T20 Blast
CountriesFlag of England.svg  England
Administrator England and Wales Cricket Board
Format Women's Twenty20
First edition 2025
Number of teams8

The Women's T20 Blast, officially known as the Women's Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, will be a professional women's Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales, run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It will serve as the successor to the Charlotte Edwards Cup.

Contents

Format

The tournament will be split into two categories: one contested by the eight counties from Tier One and the second featuring the 10 remaining Tier Two (or League 2) counties.

Teams

Eight teams from Tier One will compete in the inaugural season: the Birmingham Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire, the Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, and The Blaze. [1] [2] [3] [4] Glamorgan and Yorkshire will be awarded tier-one status and join the league in 2027, while a further two clubs will be awarded tier-one status in 2029. [5]

The remaining ten teams from Tier Two/League 2 will also compete in the inaugural season. Each county plays eight group-stage matches (home-and-away against the other four counties in their group). The top two teams from each group will progress to Finals Day. The teams are divided into the following groups:

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References

  1. "Women's teams to enter 2025 Blast and One-Day Cup". BBC Sport . 5 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  2. Nicholson, Raf (22 June 2024). "Blaze bring the heat to avenge defeats for historic Charlotte Edwards Cup win". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  3. "Top women's teams to play Blast, One Day Cup from 2025". ESPNcricinfo . 5 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  4. "Women's domestic competitions to be aligned with T20 Blast and One Day Cup". Wisden . 5 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  5. "ECB announces eight counties to host professional women's teams from 2025". BBC Sport . 18 April 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.