Charlotte Edwards says Kia Super League will boost women's cricket

The new Kia Super League can be a driving force in the international growth of women's cricket, according to former England captain Charlotte Edwards.

Six teams will feature in this year's inaugural women's Twenty20 competition between July 30 and August 21, before a 50-over component is added to the competition next summer ahead of the Women's World Cup in England and Wales.

Edwards, who recently retired from international cricket, said: "We've learned over a period of time that the T20 format is the best way to promote the game and I think this is a great opportunity to do that again.

"I think it's a great way to attract people to watch - we want it to be an energetic and dynamic game which hopefully attracts young girls to play.

"It's going to be a 50-over comp before the World Cup next summer and the T20 afterwards, so it's exciting times."

Edwards' 309 international appearances included just 23 Tests while Southern Vipers team-mate - New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates' 167 internationals have all come in limited-overs format.

"Twenty20, for women's cricket has taken the game so far in terms of creating that spectacle and promoting it, and I think it'll filter back into our 50-over cricket," said Bates, the 2015 Wisden Women's Cricketer of the Year.

"With the World Cup, I think it'll make for more exciting cricket and bigger scores because we're playing so much Twenty20 now.

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"Just like the men's game, from Twenty20 and 50-over cricket, we've seen the change there with how teams approach Test cricket. I think it would be the same for the girls and become more of a spectacle."