Women's Cricket Super League line-up revealed

The ECB has revealed the six participating hosts for this summer's inaugural Women's Cricket Super League.

Hampshire Cricket, Lancashire County Cricket Board, Loughborough University, Surrey CCC, Yorkshire CCC and a South West team will compete in what will initially be a Twenty20 competition.

The South West team is a collaboration between Gloucestershire CCC, Somerset CCC and the University of Exeter, while Hampshire Cricket will take part in conjunction with partners Berkshire Cricket Ltd, Dorset Cricket Board, Isle of Wight Cricket Board, Oxfordshire Cricket, Southampton Solent University, Sussex Cricket Ltd and Wiltshire Cricket Ltd.

All six hosts have been awarded four-year rights, and from 2017 the event will involve Twenty20 and 50-over matches.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: "This is a key day in the creation of the Women's Cricket Super League - we have now secured the six hosts for the start of the competition this summer. 

"The bidding process for obtaining the hosts was competitive from the outset, and throughout the interviews, alongside my colleagues on the panel, I was very impressed by all of the proposals submitted. 

"It is pleasing to see so much diverse and innovative partnership working across the cricket and educational landscapes and that the six chosen hosts provide such a strong geographical spread. 

"To have seven first-class counties, five non first-class counties and three universities involved, demonstrates how collaborative, imaginative and wide-ranging this project is."  

ECB Director of England Women's Cricket, Clare Connor said: "It has been remarkable to see the enthusiasm that the Women's Cricket Super League has generated.

"The award process has provided a real catalyst for a wide range of organisations to think differently about their individual and collaborative cricket offer for women and girls, and how they can positively shape the future of the game.

"Our vision for the Women's Cricket Super League is to create an exciting, dynamic and high quality domestic women's game in England, where the world's best players come together to drive performance standards and to inspire women and girls to love cricket.