Image source, Getty Images
- author, Timothy Abraham
- role, BBC sports reporter in Dallas
A new women’s T20 franchise tournament featuring some of the world’s best players could be coming to the United States in the near future.
BBC Sport understands preliminary talks have taken place with US counterparts about the feasibility of this.
Discussions are still in the early stages and no specific deadline has yet been set.
The United States is preparing to co-host the Men’s T20 World Cup with the West Indies, with the opening match set to take place in Dallas at 1:30 a.m. BST on Sunday.
Cricket is set to be included in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, and US cricket leaders see this as an opportunity to boost interest in women’s cricket in the country.
The United States women’s national cricket team, which has never previously competed in a major International Cricket Council (ICC) event, will likely qualify for the Olympic Games as the host nation.
Many MLC franchise owners are understood to be open to the possibility of developing a women’s team in addition to the existing men’s teams.
The inaugural MLC winning team, MI New York, is owned by Mukesh Ambani, whose wife Nita is a prominent supporter of women’s cricket.
It is unclear at this stage what impact the plans will have on England Women’s international matches, and possibly The Hundred.
Earlier this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) promised an extra £800,000 to each of the eight women’s teams, guaranteeing that top players would earn up to £50,000 in wages.
This figure is considerably lower than the unprecedented salaries earned by the most in-demand women cricketers drafted into the Indian Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Nat Sciver-Brunt (£320,000) and spinner Sophie Ecclestone (£180,000) are England’s highest-paid players in the tournament.
Men’s cricket in England is already feeling the effects of the advent of the MLC.
Opener Jason Roy decided to cancel his white-ball add-on contract with the ECB, worth between £60,000 and £70,000, to play in the inaugural MLC season.
Roy will remain with his team, the Los Angeles Knight Riders, through 2024.
MLC has signed some more big-name players, including Australian trio Steve Smith, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell, for next season, which begins the week after the T20 World Cup final.
