The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced eight counties will host professional women's teams from 2025 as part of a major reorganization of the domestic competition.
Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire have all achieved Tier 1 status.
As part of the expansion, Glamorgan and Yorkshire will be added in 2027.
The ECB plans to add two more teams in 2029.
In 2025, eight selected counties will replace the regions that have competed in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachel Hayhoe Flint Trophy in recent years.
The plan envisages the creation of a three-tier national competition structure, which the ECB says could lead to an 80% increase in the number of professional female players in England and Wales by 2029.
By 2027, £8m of new funding will be pumped into the women's domestic game each year, taking annual investment to around £19m.
Glamorgan and Yorkshire will receive additional funding from 2025 to run its own 'Tier 1 Standard' talent pathway in preparation for joining the top tier in 2027.
The locations of the two teams added in 2029 have not been determined.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “Through this process we have seen the great desire of leading counties to build professional women's teams and the serious commitment they are making to growing women's cricket and women's cricket in this country. I understand,” he said.
“More professional teams means more women can build careers as cricketers, more role models to inspire future generations and more women's professional teams in the country to emulate nearby. .”
Beth Barrett-Wild, Director of the Women's Professional Game at the ECB, said: “We want to take the women's professional game forward and create commercially vibrant teams and competitions that excite fans and demonstrate the quality of the women's professional game. “It's clear that this game is united in that we want to play.” Our professional players. ”
All 18 first-class counties and the MCC were invited to bid to become a women's tier one club, with the “majority” making a bid.
Counties that fail will be required to “enter a process to determine their Tier 2 and Tier 3 composition,” with results expected to be confirmed by September 2024.
From 2025 to 2028, there will be no promotions or relegations between weight classes.
