Northants face strong competition in bid to host a Tier 1 women’s team

Northants have submitted a bid for the club to be awarded one of the eight new Tier 1 professional women’s cricket teams from the summer of 2025.

But it seems clear they are going to have plenty of competition.

As it stands, there are eight indepen­dent regional teams which are owned and funded centrally by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

They are currently called Sunrisers, South East Stars, Thunder, Northern Diamonds, Southern Vipers, The Blaze, Western Storm and Central Sparks.

They are all affiliated to a couple of counties each, and play their games at various grounds the country.

Northants are currently affiliated with the Sunrisers, who will once again play a T20 match at the County Ground this summer as part of a double header when the Steelbacks host Yorkshire Vikings on Sunday, June 2.

Under the new system, which is set to start for the 2025 season, the the regional sides will be scrapped and counties will take direct responsibility for over­seeing and growing women’s teams.

All 18 first-class counties, plus the MCC, were invited to submit tenders to host one of the eight professional women’s teams, and they had until Sunday (March 10) to do so.

The ECB are committed to investing £1.3m into each of the eight teams every year until 2028, but the counties will then be expected to stand on their own two feet.

Beneath the eight Tier 1 teams, there will be Tiers 2 and 3, with teams also attached to counties, but these teams will be amateur. There will be no promotion or relegation until at least 2029.

As well as Northants, other counties to have publicly announced their intention to bid for a Tier 1 team include Durham, Yorkshire, Middlesex, Glamorgan, Worcestershire, Leicestershire and Somerset, while the likes of Surrey and Sussex are also believed to have submitted bids.

So it is far from a foregone conclusion that Northants, who recently revealed their plan to open a new cricket training facility on the ourskirts of Northampton in Moulton, will be successful in their bid.

But they are very keen to be part of the professional women’s game in the coming years.

A statement from Northants read: "Our vision is for Northamptonshire, together with our far-reaching national county partners, to become the heart of women’s and girls’ cricket for central and the east of England, harnessing that regional passion and momentum behind a Steelbacks Women professional team."

And chief executive Ray Payne added: "Women’s and girls’ cricket is already a main priority for us as a club, growing the women’s and girls’ game has been the headline initiative for our Steelbacks in the Community team and we’ve seen incredible results already.

“The number of women and girls involved in the game within our county is growing at a rapid rate, the number of players at all levels in Northamptonshire grew by 160 per cent last year alone.

“Being able to deliver a clear pathway for a young girl in Northamptonshire to progress from soft ball cricket to a full-time professional contract, playing at Wantage Road, is a special thing and we are investing hugely to make that a reality.”

Under the proposal, the new Tier 1 women’s team would be known as the Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women.

Board director Sam Kiddy believes the formation of a Steelbacks Women professional side would have a profound impact on the community.

“The work we’ve put in as a club over the last few years to encourage more girls to get involved in cricket is proving so rewarding and hosting a Tier 1 side will inspire many more new players," said Kiddy.

“We want to be producing international cricketers within Northamptonshire, that’s the goal.”

Two Northants-produced players, Jodi Grewcock and Josie Groves, have been named in the England Women's Under-19 squad for their tour to Sri Lanka to take on the hosts and Australia in a tri-series at the end of this month.

As well as playing for the County, Grewcock plays regional cricket for the Sunrisers, with Groves turning out for The Blaze, and Kiddy is keen for them to lead the way for the Steelbacks in the future.

“We’ve seen Jodi and Josie named in the England U19s squad this week which is a wonderful start," she said.

"They’re both incredible young cricketers from within our county and we want to be in a position in the future where talented players like them can proudly say they are Steelbacks on their journey into the England side.”