Renegades eye new T20 comp

The new stand-alone competition will feature all eight WBBL teams, plus new blood in the ACT, and will be played as a precursor to WBBL|10.

The tournament will be played across two locations yet to be announced by Cricket Australia.

Every team will play four matches in a round-robin style format with the top four finishers playing off in a knockout finals series.

The tournament is a fresh approach by Cricket Australia to optimise scheduling, give women's cricket more exposure by creating more playing opportunities, increasing player payments to unprecedented levels and bring domestic players a step closer to being full-time athletes.

The new competition comes after the Weber WBBL was reduced to an optimised 40-game season, in line with the KFC BBL.

Melbourne Renegades General Manager, James Rosengarten, welcomed the new addition to the domestic cricket calendar.

“The Melbourne Renegades are thrilled with the introduction and opportunity to participate in the new competition," Mr. Rosengarten said.

“The more playing opportunities that are afforded to Victorian women and girls, to not only develop their cricket but enhance their chances to represent the Melbourne Renegades, is a great thing.

“The competition aligns with our high-performance program and provides us with a great runway into WBBL|10."

The announcement triggers the opening of the state contracting period.