Canberra's women cricketers get Big Bash boost

It could also provide a stepping stone for a Canberra team to enter the domestic Twenty20 league.

As part of their Women and Girls Action Plan, Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday they would be scaling back the WBBL to bring it in line with the men's competition.

But they will also launch a new domestic T20 comp - just for Australian players - that's expected to run in conjunction with the 50-over WNCL.

That's a big boost for the ACT Meteors - and all female cricketers in Canberra - who will now get to show their skills in the shortest form of the game on the national stage.

The plan was also to increase player payments in a step towards more women becoming full-time domestic cricketers.

This summer only four Meteors had WBBL contracts - Katie Mack, Paris Bowdler, Olivia Porter and Gabrielle Sutcliffe - with the remaining players' only chance of attracting one coming in the WNCL.

Now they'll get the chance to showcase their T20 skills - as opposed to being judged on their 50-over performances.

It's expected every round of WNCL, which has been two 50-over games, would now be accompanied by one T20 game as well.

Cricket ACT head of cricket Stuart Karppinen said this would equate to more opportunities for Meteors players - and by extension Canberra's women cricketers - to get a contract on the big stage.

That's especially so given the numbers of international players involved with the WBBL - further limiting the opportunities for Australians.

"It's great that it's been confirmed that there's a domestic T20 option available," Karpinnen said.

"It really looks advantageous for us because a lot of our girls are outside the WBBL currently so getting exposure to T20 cricket and additional matches is fantastic.

"What's really great is their performances in the T20 space, which they haven't had previously, [will help] to get picked up [by WBBL clubs].

"Previously it was just the 50-over format that attracted interest from WBBL teams, but now we've got the exact same format so it's great."

More Meteors playing WBBL would in turn boost Canberra's chances of getting a team of their own.

Cricket ACT chair Greg Boorer has been pushing to bring the Big Bash to the capital full-time.

The Sydney Thunder had a deal to play BBL and WBBL games at Manuka Oval, but that's expired and they're currently in talks with the ACT government for a new one.

Cricket Australia are also in talks with the government over a long-term plan to host elite cricket in Canberra.

"That's being worked through at the moment. A decision around expansion sits [with Cricket Australia] - that's something that's out of our control," Karpinnen said.

"But given the opportunity if and when that comes I'd like to think we'd be ready and have some good ideas."

Cricket Australia said the new T20 competition would raise the average domestic salary for 2024-25 to $163,322 - for players with WBBL and state contracts.

That's an eight-per-cent increase of $12,303 on last summer.

With WBBL contracts set to remain the same value - despite reducing to a 10-round season - that pay increase will flow on to Meteors players who don't have a WBBL contract, but play in both the other domestic competitions.

Karpinnen said domestic players becoming full-time was becoming more realistic, with talk about introducing domestic red-ball cricket for the women as well.

He felt that would be a staggered introduction, building up towards playing four-day games - like the men do in the Sheffield Shield.

"They're not far off at all. There's further discussions too around expansion and longer format [cricket], which the ACA was quite keen on," Karpinnen said.

"There's lots of ongoing opportunities. I think we'll see increased rookie-contracted players the season following next.

"Again more opportunities for contracted players, more opportunities for girls to get contracted and make a living out of cricket."