25 Feb 2016

Loughborough Lightning to play on opening day of Women’s Cricket Super League

Loughborough University was recently announced as a host for the WCSL and today are pleased to announce that the team will be called Loughborough Lightning and will play in the league’s opening match away against Yorkshire Diamonds.

The team will play three home matches at the Haslegrave Cricket Ground on the Loughborough University campus, starting against Lancashire Thunder on Wednesday 3rd August. This will be followed two days later by a game against Western Storm on Friday 5th August, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The final home match of the season will be against Surrey Stars on Friday 12th August.

The inaugural season of the Women’s Cricket Super League will see the six new teams take part in a round-robin Twenty20 competition from Saturday 30th July to Sunday 14th August.  The tournament will feature 15 group matches in 16 days and climax with a finals day on Sunday 21st August at the Essex County Ground in Chelmsford.

In joining the Loughborough University family of sports, the team will play under the Loughborough Lightning name, joining the successful Netball Superleague team in using the Lightning brand. 

Loughborough University’s Executive Director of Sport, John Steele, said:

“Following the announcement of Sall Briggs as Head Coach this week, I am delighted that we will be hosting three home matches in the inaugural Women’s Cricket Super League. I look forward to seeing Lightning strike this summer, as we press ahead with plans both on and off the pitch.”

ECB Director of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said:

“Today represents another huge step towards delivering our vision of creating a dynamic, inspirational and high quality domestic women’s game in England.  The fixture list includes some exciting prospects, and I am sure that Loughborough Lightning are looking forward to getting their campaign underway in the opening contest of the competition, taking on Yorkshire Diamonds at Headingley on 30th July.

“As each stage of the process unfolds, we keep striving to push new boundaries.  We are now looking forward to working with Loughborough Lightning and the other five teams over the next few weeks to reveal their kits, colours and brands, as well as the central competition logo and branding.”

The Women’s Cricket Super League will expand from only including Twenty20 (T20) cricket in 2016 to incorporating both T20 and 50-over formats in future seasons.  All six teams have been awarded hosting rights for a four-year period from 2016-2019 inclusive. More information on this will be released in the coming weeks, but follow @LightningWCSL on Twitter for all the latest information.