Club statement: Restructure of the women’s professional game
18 April 2024
Everyone at Gloucestershire Cricket is delighted to see a Tier 1 professional women’s team secured for the West Country and would like to congratulate Somerset for their successful tender process. As a founding partner of Western Storm, we believe it’s vitally important to have regional representation for the women’s domestic game in the South West and we have every confidence in Somerset’s ability to deliver the highest level of professional women and girls’ cricket at Taunton.
The tender process has proved to be an uncertain time for all staff and players who work within the women’s professional game with many facing moves away from homes and bases they have established. With the future of the domestic structure now decided, we hope the game can move forward with confidence and an ambitious plan for growth that supports those staff and players and builds on the fantastic work of all 18 counties to accelerate the women’s game up to this point. As the game continues to evolve, we are excited for our role in helping to support the women’s professional teams from 2025 onwards and remain very much committed to continuing the important role we have played in developing women and girls’ cricket in the region and nationally.
We see Gloucestershire and Bristol as key to the delivery of all forms of cricket in particular with respects to the ECB’s stated ambition to make the game of cricket the most inclusive sport in the country. Everyone at Gloucestershire is excited about what we can offer the game both now and in the future, and we look forward to working with the ECB to ensure Bristol hosts the very highest level of cricket in the years to come.
