ECB to Invest Millions into Women’s Cricket Restructure for 2025

England & Wales Cricket Board have announced a new ‘Tier’ model for women’s domestic cricket with an annual investment of £19 million.

Women’s professional cricket will look completely different for the 2025 season as the ECB have released their plans for a new tier system. This new structure will consist of three tiers: 1, 2 and 3. Tier 1 will consist of eight first class counties (increased to ten by 2027), Tier 2 will have ten to fourteen and Tier 3 sixteen to twenty. However, Tiers 2 and 3 will have a mixture of first class and national counties.

Counties who wished to participate in the top tier were required to submit a bid, outlining why they should be accepted as one of the eight counties in Tier 1. Those who were successful: Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire. By 2027, Glamorgan and Yorkshire will be integrated into Tier 1. Each Tier 1 team will receive an annual sum of £1.3 million which would take the total annual investment to £19 million.

There will be no promotion or relegation for the first four seasons.

Richard Gould, the Chief Executive Officer of the ECB, said: “More professional teams means more women are able to make a career out of cricket. This will create more role models for future generations.”

In a statement released on the ECB’s website, women’s cricket has majorly developed since 2020 and the tier model aims to develop it further and to the next level. “Especially off-field with fan engagement and commercial value”. They aim to see an increase of 80% in female professionals by 2029.

Photo from ESPNCricket.