A team of women from Brighton and Hove is one of five to join the newly formed Sussex Cricket Women’s Premier League.
Sussex Cricket announced the formation of the league today (Wednesday 8 March) with 2023 as the inaugural season.
Five clubs have signed up – Brighton and Hove, Bells Yew Green, Burgess Hill, Eastbourne and Horsham. A further 10 teams are due to make up the second division.
Sussex Cricket said: “The structure has been created to continue the excellent growth and development of women and girls cricket in Sussex while also aiming to improve the quality and standard of cricket played as well as increasing opportunities along the way.
“The objective will also be to grow the Premier League over the coming years and continue to produce players for Sussex Women, Southern Vipers and Brave and England Women.”
Charlotte Burton, women and girls lead officer, said: “Providing a Premier League for women’s clubs is something we have wanted to develop for a number of years.
“And with the continued growth of women and girls cricket in Sussex, we wanted a structure in place where women can access more opportunities to play the longer format of the game.
“It is an exciting time for women and girls cricket and through the work we do at schools with our two secondary school projects, with Chance to Shine and the ECB, we hope to get even more girls coming into the game.”
Premier League teams will compete in both a 40-over and T20 competition, with Division 2 sides playing in a 30-over format.
Gary Wallis-Tayler, community cricket director, said: “We are thrilled to launch the first ever Sussex Women’s Premier League, a really important step to continue growing the game.
“We want to continue developing our offerings for women and girl cricketers and we hope this will encourage more female participants to want to access the game as well as wanting to play club cricket in a quality, competitive environment across Sussex.”
Sussex Cricket added: “We are actively seeking a sponsor for the Sussex Women’s Premier League. If anyone would be interested in discussing this opportunity, please contact Gary Wallis-Tayler gary.wallis-tayler@sussexcricket.co.uk.
“To find out more about women and girls cricket in Sussex, please visit our website or contact Charlotte Burton for more information charlotte.burton@sussexcricket.co.uk.”
