Melbourne: The Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) season will be condensed, and a fresh state-based T20 competition will be introduced as Cricket Australia unveiled a 10-year action plan to invest, boost grassroots participation, and enhance commercial revenue in women’s cricket.
The WBBL, which had a 56-game regular season in each of the nine seasons since it was introduced in 2015-16, has now transitioned to a 40-game season, aligning it with the men’s BBL final.
Teams will now compete in 10 regular season matches instead of 14. The salary caps for clubs will remain unchanged.
The new state-based T20 competition, which still has some details to be finalised, is expected to run alongside the 50-over Women’s National Cricket League.
The introduction of new competition means there will be no overall reduction in women’s games with the tournament to provide more top-flight playing opportunities for domestic cricketers, according to cricket.com.au website.
Next season, the new competition will lead to an increase in salaries for female domestic players. The average salary for female domestic players will rise by eight per cent to AU$163,322 for those holding contracts in both the WBBL and state competitions.
CA has pledged to increase the number of matches held in Australia’s premier stadiums, with a focus on maximizing attendance for women’s internationals and the WBBL at the major venues.
–IANS
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