Notes for editors

Press release reference number:

The format and qualification process for the two competitions are as follows:

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy:

Each Regional team will play against each other once during the group stage. The team that tops the table after the group stage will advance to the final, to be staged on 25 September.

The second and third-placed teams at the end of the group stage will meet in a playoff on 22 September. The winner of that match will progress to the final.

The venues for the playoff and for the final are to be confirmed.

Women’s Regional T20:

The Women’s Regional T20 is set to start on 26 June with three opening-round matches to be played as double headers with Vitality Blast games at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Emerald Headingley. Emirates Old Trafford will also stage a double header on 9 July.

The Regional team have been placed into two groups of four based on their final standings in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last summer (shown in brackets):

Finals Day will be staged on Sunday 5 September with the best group winner progressing immediately to the final.

The semi-final on Finals Day will be contested by the ‘other’ group winner and the best second-placed team. The winner of that match will progress to the final.

2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was initially staged last summer as a special one-off 50 over competition to ensure women’s domestic cricket during the COVID-19 affected season.

The eight Regional team competed in the tournament which was won by Southern Vipers when they defeated Northern Diamonds by 38 runs at Edgbaston on 27 September.

It was always intended that the 50 over and T20 competitions would launch together this season, with a decision made this winter to retain Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy as the name of the 50 over competition.

Rachael Heyhoe Flint

Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint OBE was a trailblazer for women's sport captaining England to the first-ever Cricket World Cup title in 1973 while off the field her tireless determination for equality laid the foundations for the opportunities presented to modern-day players.

Heyhoe Flint played 22 Tests and 23 one-day internationals during a 19-year England career and is a member of the ICC Hall of Fame. The Women’s Cricketer of the Year award was created and named after Heyhoe Flint in 2017 as a tribute to her following her death, aged 77, that year.

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