The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English

women's cricket Women's cricket is the form of the team sport of cricket when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries around the world and 108 national teams participate internationally. 11 of them have WTest and WODI ...

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

domestic competition organised by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

. The

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the tournament took place in 2021. The tournament is named after England's former captain and most capped player,

Charlotte Edwards Charlotte Marie Edwards (born 17 December 1979) is an English former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator. She played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 23 Test matches, 191 One Day Internationals and 95 Twenty2 ...

. The tournament features eight teams, representing regional hubs across England and Wales. The tournament is a successor to the

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The comp ...

, which ended in 2019. Whilst a regional T20 tournament was planned for 2020, it was cancelled in favour of the 50-over

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is an English women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The first edition of the tournament took place during August ...

in the shortened 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The tournament now runs alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and The Hundred.

History

With the ending of the

in 2019, the

intended to launch a new regional structure for domestic women's cricket in England and Wales, including a 50-over competition, a Twenty20 competition and The Hundred. However, as the

shortened the 2020 season, only the 50-over

was able to go ahead that season, with six new teams competing, plus

Western Storm Western Storm are a women's cricket team representing South West England and Wales, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic cricket. They play their home matches at the County Ground, Taunton, the County Ground, Bristol and Sophia Gardens ...

and

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by former ...

carried over from the WCSL, representing regional hubs. In 2021, with a return to a full schedule, it was announced in February that the new Twenty20 competition would be called the Women's Regional T20, to run alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and to be competed for by the same teams. Two days before the tournament began, it was renamed the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with the

of the tournament getting underway on 26 June, eventually being won by

South East Stars South East Stars are a women's cricket team that represent the London & South East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Beck ...

. The second edition of the tournament was won by

, who beat

Central Sparks Central Sparks are a women's cricket team that represent the West Midlands region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at Edgbaston and New Road. They are captained by Evelyn Jones and c ...

in the final.

Teams

The teams for the Charlotte Edwards Cup are as follows:

Competition format

In 2021 and 2022, teams played each other home and away in their group. The two group winners and the best second-place team advanced to Finals Day. The best group winner advanced straight to the final, whilst the other two teams played off in a semi-final. From 2023, teams will play in one group of eight, playing each other team in their group once, with the top team in the group advancing directly to the final, whilst the second and third-placed teams play off in the semi-final. Teams receive 4 points for a win. A bonus point is given where the winning team's run rate is 1.25 or greater times that of the opposition. In case of a tie in the standings, the following tiebreakers are applied in order: highest

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in foo ...

, team that scored the most points in matches involving the tied parties, better bowling strike rate, drawing of lots.

Tournament results

References

{{Twenty20 leagues Women's cricket competitions in England English domestic cricket competitions 2021 establishments in England Women's sports leagues in England Sports leagues established in 2021