It is precisely one month before the Women’s Ashes series gets under way at Taunton, but away from the field of play England and Australia are already in close combat.
Paired at the top of the women’s world rankings, the alignment will soon extend to the structure of their domestic games. Both have made major announcements this year, with the formation of a Women’s Big Bash League revealed in February, followed – not entirely coincidentally – by the ECB’s plan to create a Women’s Cricket Super League from next season.
Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, said the birth of the WCSL was assisted by “lots of good, collaborative conversations with Cricket Australia”, whose own seven-team Women’s National Cricket League was something of an inspiration. The England captain, Charlotte Edwards, spent last winter playing in Perth for Western Fury and returned certain that her players, winners of the last two Ashes series, required a similar set-up in order to sustain their recent dominance.
“We’ve known for a number of years their domestic structure has been a really vibrant one,” she says. “With fewer teams there’s going to be a higher level of competition. And having experienced it, I knew that we needed to potentially put something in place over here to make sure we have that level of competition before international games, and to prepare people for international cricket. I think that’s the most important thing. We’ve got 38 counties over here and they’ve got seven states, so I think it’s a no-brainer.”
It is hoped that the new league, and the influx of ECB money that will ease its creation, will lead to a more professional approach to the game among the six so-called “hosts”. Connor says that “the vast majority of counties don’t have what people would deem to be a reasonable training programme”, and talks about “a long run of trying to embed the training culture”. “The first thing I said to Clare when I got back [from Perth] was around their training culture, which was something that really impressed me,” says Edwards. “And I can see how that can make a huge difference. The depth of their player pool out there is much bigger, and I think purely down to the fact that they’ve got that in place.”
With women’s cricket in both countries flourishing domestically and the forthcoming Ashes series to be broadcast live in its entirety for the first time, there is the sense of real momentum building. “I think this is another massive year for women’s sport,” says Edwards. “The game is just growing. Our game, and women’s sport in general. So it’s a massive opportunity. Hopefully we’ll find a new audience. Having grounds full and really buzzing for cricket is exciting in itself so I’m really looking forward to that, and hopefully the cricket will live up to the talk and both teams can deliver top quality performances.”
Most importantly, Edwards is confident that, amid the hype and expectation, her team will be ready to deliver when the action gets under way. “We’ve left no stone unturned in terms of our preparation,” she says. “It’s great to see the girls really getting themselves ready for what’s going to be a great series, and being the best two teams in the world at the moment adds an extra spice to it. The new format as well brings an extra dimension. I can’t wait to get under way, and with every game being shown live, it’s even more of an opportunity to really promote the game.”
