Northamptonshire has been awarded Tier 2 status in a restructure of women’s domestic cricket in England and Wales.

Set to launch in 2025, the women’s domestic cricket structure will be made up of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams with Tier 1 consisting of eight professional teams.

Northamptonshire, along with Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Sussex, Worcestershire and Yorkshire will make up Tier 2 in the 2025 season.

The ten counties will play 50-over and 20-over cricket, with further information to follow on the competition structure and 2025 schedule.

It signifies the next step in the evolution of the women’s professional domestic game, with Tier 1 having been announced earlier this year. The plans unveiled to this point equate to £8m new funding per year being invested into women’s domestic cricket by 2027 – taking annual investment in this area to c.£19m.

Tier 3 status will be awarded to all National Counties who would like to participate in the new Tier 3 competitions from 2025.

Yorkshire will become a Tier 1 Club for the 2026 season, subject to meeting a series of conditions, and Glamorgan will join Tier 1 in 2027. The ECB has also set the ambition to expand Tier 1 to 12 teams by 2029.

For the duration of the 2025-2028 seasons all three tiers will be ‘closed’, with no promotion or relegation.

“It’s exciting to see the three tiers finalised. It brings the new landscape of women’s professional domestic cricket one step closer.

Director of the Women’s Professional Game, Beth Barrett-Wild

“From next summer we will see up to 39 Counties competing across the new structure, which will both accommodate the growth and accelerate the depth of the women’s professional game – on and off the field.

“It’s taken substantial work from the game to get to this point and having seen how the counties have shared their plans, I’m so enthused about what comes next. We shouldn’t underestimate how big this step is for women’s cricket and indeed the whole game; a thriving and sustainable women’s domestic pyramid underneath The Hundred and England Women, with more professional female players, increased investment, and enhanced alignment across the men’s and women’s game, is a huge step forward for cricket.”