The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have awarded Glamorgan CCC a Tier 1 women’s team, starting in 2027.

Eight teams will host professional women’s teams as part of a major restructure to the domestic game from 2025.

Those eight are Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire and will be joined by Glamorgan and Yorkshire in 2027, as well as two more unnamed counties in 2029.

The counties will replace the regions that have competed in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in recent years.

The new three-tiered domestic competition will be coupled with £8m of new funding every year from the ECB, which says could lead to an 80% increase in professional women’s players in England and Wales by 2029.

The funding will take the ECB’s annual investment in the women’s game to £19m annually.

Glamorgan and Yorkshire will receive additional funding from 2025 to run their own ‘Tier 1 standard’ talent pathways in preparation for joining the top tier in 2027.

“Through this process we’ve seen a huge appetite from first class counties to have a women’s professional team, and a real commitment to growing women’s and girls’ cricket in this country,” said ECB chief executive officer Richard Gould.

“More professional teams means more women able to make a career out of being a cricketer, more role models to inspire future generations, and more of the country having a women’s professional team to follow nearby.”

ECB director of women’s professional game, Beth Barrett-Wild, added: “It’s clear that the game is united in wanting to take the women’s professional game forward, and in wanting to produce commercially vibrant teams and competitions that excite fans and showcase the quality of our professional players.”

All 18 first-class counties and the MCC were invited to tender to become a women’s Tier 1 club, with the “vast majority” submitting bids.

Counties not successful will be asked to be “in a process to determine the composition of Tier 2 and Tier 3” with the outcome to be confirmed by September 2024.

There will be no promotion or relegation between tiers from 2025 until 2028.

Dan Cherry, Chief Executive at Glamorgan Cricket said:  “The whole team at Glamorgan is extremely excited by the confirmation that there will be a professional Glamorgan Women’s team playing in Tier 1 of the newly established competition.

“We aim to see cricket become the number one women’s team sport in Wales and are very pleased that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have recognised this commitment.

“We will continue with the substantial work we already do to develop Women’s and Girls’ Cricket in Wales and are grateful to the ECB for the additional funding to run our talent pathway to a Tier 1 standard so that we will be fully prepared for Tier 1 professional cricket in 2027.

“We would like to thank the Welsh Government, Cricket Wales, Sport Wales and a number of leading Welsh businesses for their support for our bid.”

Aimee Rees, Head of Women’s and Girls’ Cricket at Glamorgan Cricket, was delighted at the news.

“Seeing Glamorgan awarded a Tier One Women’s Cricket Team is the proudest moment in my 20-year coaching career to date,2 said Rees.

“We will embrace the opportunity and make the whole nation proud.

“To be able to offer the opportunity for young women and girls from all over Wales to develop their skills and move through a fully operated pathway to represent a professional Women’s Cricket Team based in their own country will be transformational for women’s cricket in Wales.

“This is a momentous step to add to an already long and rich history of women’s cricket in Wales. Glamorgan doesn’t just represent a county, we represent a country, and today’s announcement will give girls in Wales the best opportunity to be professional cricketers at the highest level.”