ECB Announce Women's T20 Series

ECB Announce Women's T20 Series

England's women will once again be playing alongside the men this summer.

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The ECB have announced the addition of an extra Women’s T20 series to the international calendar for the summer of 2012. It has confirmed that England Women will play a five-match series against West Indies Women to help the two teams prepare for the ICC Women’s World T20 in Sri Lanka less than a fortnight later. The competition in Sri Lanka will run alongside the men’s and begins on 26^th September with the last of the matches in England scheduled for 16^th September at Arundel.

The first two games will be played at Chester-le-Street and Old Trafford on 8^th and 10^th September ahead of the men’s matches against South Africa, with the third and fourth matches to be played at Wantage Road and Hove on 13^th and 15^th September respectively.

The ECB also confirmed that the matches held prior to the men’s at Chester-le-Street and Old Trafford will be televised live on Sky Sports.

The ECB’s head of England women’s cricket said, “The additional NatWest Women’s T20 Series this summer is a huge bonus for the England Women’s team and for women’s cricket. I’m delighted that international women’s cricket will be showcased alongside the England men’s matches in Durham and Manchester. Spectators will be treated to an exciting opportunity to experience two sets of double header games before the teams fly out to Sri Lanka a couple of weeks later for the ICC World Twenty20. It’s fantastic once again that two matches will be shown live on Sky Sports for viewers to experience international women’s cricket at its best.”

West Indies Women are one of the most improved sides in women’s international cricket and recently triumphed in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier held in Bangladesh. Their lynchpin, Stafanie Taylor, is the current ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

© Cricket World 2012