Women’s cricket in England is set for a “new era” this summer with the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy returning to the schedule alongside the new Women’s Regional T20 tournament.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the fixtures for the summer and there will be 56 matches played across both tournaments.
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy will begin on 29 May with each of the eight teams to play each other once in the group stage. The final is to be held on 25 September. The Women’s Regional T20 will start on 26 June with the eight teams split into two groups of four. Each team will play three home and three away matches during the group stage before Finals Day on 5 September.
Clare Connor, ECB managing director of women’s cricket, said: “This promises to be a truly memorable summer of cricket for the women’s game. We are not only set to further professionalise the game with more players on full-time contracts than ever before but, crucially, we will showcase our game to more young girls across England and Wales so that they can say cricket is a game for them.
“I am particularly proud that we will continue to move forward with Rachael Heyhoe Flint’s name, with everything she represented for women’s cricket, firmly entrenched in our journey.
“The launch of women’s regional cricket last summer, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, was another significant step forward for our domestic game. We are now looking forward to seeing those regional teams play twice as much cricket this summer with the addition of the T20 competition.”
This summer 41 female players have signed full-time domestic professional contracts – in addition to 17 centrally contracted England players – while the launch of The Hundred will establish further opportunity for female cricketers.