WPL or England? Players might be forced to choose after scheduling clash with New Zealand tour
Englandwomen’s players will have to take a decision between featuring in the Women’s Premier League and representing their country, with the T20 tournament’s latest edition set to partially clash with a five-T20I series in New Zealand.
The schedule for the 2024 WPL was announced by the BCCI earlier this week, confirming the dates for the 22-match competition set to feature five teams. Considered the biggest T20 tournament in the women’s game, the edition will commence on February 23, running until the final on March 17, in Delhi. The T20I series against New Zealand starts on March 19, in Dunedin.
A total of eight England players have contracts for the 2024 season: Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong, Kate Cross, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone and Danni Wyatt. Sciver-Brunt, Wong, Knight and Ecclestone were retained by their respective franchises. Sciver-Brunt has the most expensive deal at INR 3.2 crore (£320,000).
On Friday, Bell withdrew from the tournament, and was replaced by Chamari Athapaththu for the UP Warriorz. In a social media post, she stated that her “priority at the time is my preparation for England’s tour of NZ”.
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According to ESPNcricinfo, players have been informed by the ECB that if they stay back for the tournament, they will not be considered for the first three matches.
It’s interesting to note that in August, the match fees for the men’s and women’s game was equalised by the ECB, on the back of increased domestic salary pots as well as a sharp bump in pay in the women’s Hundred – although pay there is still some way off what it is in the men’s tournament.
The T20I series will run until March 29, and will be followed by a three-match ODI series. The Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in October, and for which players would be eyeing T20 preparation, will be played in Bangladesh.
