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Sky Sports has agreed a deal to show the inaugural Women’s Premier League, the women’s version of the Indian Premier League (IPL), with coverage on Sky Sports Cricket starting with the opening fixture this Saturday.
The inaugural league runs for 22 days in March and features five city-based teams in T20 franchise competition: Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Lucknow.
Each team plays the other four twice in a round-robin group stage, with the top three advancing to the play-offs. The league winners automatically go through to the final, with the second and third placed teams competing in an eliminator to decide who else will play in the season finale on March 26.
The first WPL auction took place earlier this year, where Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone sold for £320,000 and £180,000 respectively, with several other English players set to feature in the new competition.
Who else will feature in the Women’s Premier League?
Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner was sold to the Giants for £320,000, while the highest price so far has been commanded by India’s Smriti Mandhana, who was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £340,000, while international teammate Deepti Sharma bought UP Warrirorz for £259,000.
Ecclestone will be joined at the Warriors by fast bowler and England team-mate Lauren Bell after a late bid for the 22-year-old of £30,000, with Heather Knight going to Royal Challengers Bangalore after an opening bid of £40,000.
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England captain Heather Knight says the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction is a ‘minor distraction’ to the T20 World Cup.
England all-rounder Alice Capsey headed to Delhi Capitals after being sold for £75,000, while 20-year-old bowler Issy Wong went to India alongside Nat Sciver-Brunt for £30,000.
The Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) received 1,525 applications for the tournament – the same as the men’s Indian Premier League – with 246 Indians and 163 overseas players making it to the list.
In five franchises, 90 slots are available, with 30 places reserved for overseas players – six per franchise. Each team has roughly £1.2m to spend on forming a squad of 15-18 players, with the most sought-after players getting six-figure deals.
Big year of cricket on Sky Sports
The announcement from the WPL follows news earlier in the week that England’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh will be broadcast live this month on Sky Sports.
The agreement further confirms Sky’s place as the home of international cricket in England and Ireland, with 2023 being the year of cricket on Sky Sports.
After the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Sky Sports will see the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the men’s Ashes Test and the multi-format women’s Ashes – including five-day Test matches – plus England men hosting South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand. , England Women vs Sri Lanka, The Hundred, The Blast and more.
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