Bears Women and Men will play alongside each other in fully aligned national T20 and 50-over competitions next season.
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that men’s and women’s teams will compete side-by-side in the Vitality Blast and the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
It’s the first time the competitions have been aligned and is seen as the latest step to grow women’s cricket in the country and expand its reach.
Bears Women – one of eight new Tier One professional county teams who will in a revamped structure next year – will compete in the Vitality Blast women’s competition and Metro Bank One Day Cup women’s competition.
“It’s really exciting that men’s and women’s domestic white-ball competitions will be aligned for the first time,” said Bears Head of Women’s Cricket Laura MacLeod.
“Putting the men’s and women’s teams on the same platform in the domestic calendar will help raise the profile of women’s cricket and highlight the talent on show.
“Our squad is taking shape nicely, we’ll be announcing more signings soon, and the fixtures for next season will be released later in the year. There’s so much to look forward to and we can’t wait to get started as Bears Women.”
Warwickshire Performance Director Gavin Larsen added his support. “We applaud the ECB and the game’s partners on this positive move. It’s another big step towards the equality we’re all striving for in our game.
“Here at Warwickshire we look forward to 2025 and our first professional women’s team taking part in these new competitions.”
The Vitality Blast women’s competition will culminate in a Finals Day, while the men’s and women’s Metro Bank One Day Cup competitions will each have a knock-out stage before a flagship final.
Competition schedules and venues will be announced later this year, with the expectation that men’s and women’s double headers are likely to form some part of the aligned Vitality Blast schedule.
A knock-out cup competition consisting of teams from all three tiers of the expanded women’s domestic structure will also form part of the 2025 schedule.
The aim of the cup competition is to provide all Counties with the opportunity to compete against each other, play at some of the country’s biggest venues, and give players across the pyramid the chance to test their skills on an elevated platform.
Director of the Women’s Professional Game Beth Barrett-Wild said: “A big driver for the re-organisation of women’s professional cricket has been to enable us to better use the leverage and existing scale of men’s county cricket to accelerate fanbase growth for our women’s teams and players.
“The next step in the growth of the women’s professional game is to produce commercially vibrant and visible teams and competitions that excite fans and continue to showcase the quality of women’s cricket.
“I’d like to thank both Charlotte Edwards and the family of Rachael Heyhoe Flint for allowing us to name our two domestic trophies the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy during this first chapter in the professionalisation of women’s domestic cricket.
“There are no two women in the history of the game in this country who are more synonymous with and symbolic of the progress that has been made in recent times, and it was truly fitting that their names be lent to our first women’s professional competitions across the 2020 to 2024 seasons.
“Teams in the Metro Bank One Day Cup women’s competition will compete to lift the Rachael Heyhoe Flint trophy.”
To find out more and register your interest in Bears Women visit Bears Women 2025 page.
Over 13,500 tickets sold for T20 quarter-final
For a third year in a row, Bears have secured a home Vitality Blast quarter-final against Gloucestershire on Friday 6 September. And tickets are going fast!
Over 13,500 tickets have already been sold. Adults tickets are available for only £20, if purchased in advance, while U16s are £5.
