Durham Cricket have today announced their intention to bring professional women’s Cricket to the region.
Women’s Cricket is undergoing a restructure, with the ECB set to assign 8 counties with professional women’s teams, forming a new structure from 2025 onwards, aimed at further growing women’s Cricket across the country.
Durham Cricket, who have one of the most successful men’s pathways in the country, have recently aligned their women’s pathway in an effort to mirror the success of the men’s team and develop World-class female players from across the county and wider region.
The Club have been preparing for the opportunity to bring professional women’s Cricket to the region for a number of years with the addition of new facilities such as the nursery ground, a larger gym and a second set of outdoor nets, which will allow the team to not only play their games at Durham’s Seat Unique Riverside stadium but also train on-site alongside the men’s team, creating a hub for Cricket development in the North.
Durham’s bid is being supported by Durham Council and a number of organisations from across the region as not only will it give the women of the region a chance to play professional Cricket in the North East it will also bring with it huge investment and more jobs.
Marcus North, Director of Cricket, said: “This is a huge opportunity for the Club and the whole of the North to bring another women’s professional sport to the region.
“We want to give women the same opportunities the men were afforded just over 30 years ago. We know we have the female talent across the region and this will allow them to realise that talent at the highest level in their home region. It will also bring with it huge investment and more professional games to the club which will have a wider impact in terms of employment and economic benefit into the area.”
Durham submit their bid to bring a Tier 1 women’s team to the County in March and hope to have notification later in the summer.