The Caribbean Premier League and Cricket West Indies have confirmed that this year’s CPL event will feature a women’s tournament with three franchise teams competing for the first Women’s CPL title. The three teams will feature players from across the Caribbean with overseas stars rounding out the teams, the league said.

The three teams who will compete in the inaugural WCPL will be Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders.

The women’s tournament will take place during the men’s event inside the CPL tournament window which this year will run from August 30 to September 30.

The 2022 tournament enters its 10th season off the back of a highly successful 2021, with over half a billion viewers tuning in for the second successive year.

Ricky Skerritt, CWI President commented: “Increasing the opportunities for West Indian women and girls to get involved in cricket is one of CWI’s strategic priorities, and we are delighted that we have been able to partner with CPL to further the expansion plans that we had first unveiled in 2019 prior to the arrival of the Covid Pandemic. We are confident that all CPL women’s games will be highly competitive and will add quality entertainment to our fans in the region and around the world.”

Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “The addition of a women’s event to the CPL is something that has been an ambition for a long time and we are very pleased that it has become a reality. We would like to thank CWI for working with us to make this happen. The Women’s T10 Challenge which took place during the 2019 CPL was a huge success and we are looking forward to the next step forward.

At the same time, the Indian women’s team will be playing England in England, potentially ruling out the main players from both squads for the tournament. The England-India series begins with a T20I on September 10 and ends with an ODI on September 24, with a match at Lord’s.