Edwards, Knight & Taylor To Play Aussie State Cricket

Giles 'Mystic Meg' Clarke may have told England's contracted players that there's no WICL in their future this winter; but three of our biggest stars have been handed a rather nice consolation prize - the chance to play state cricket in Australia's WNCL.

Sarah Taylor will keep wicket for the South Australia Scorpions; Heather Knight will be stepping out for the Tasmanian Roar; while Charlotte Edwards will captain the Western Fury.

The WNCL is arguably a much more challenging environment for these top players than English domestic cricket; so not only will the three teams involved benefit, but the players will too.

The England stars won't quite be playing a full season - they are scheduled to return home at Christmas, so they'll miss the chance to play in the WNCL finals in February.

But my real hope is that this is part of a deal with Cricket Australia which will see some Southern Stars playing in our own Women's County Championship prior to next year's Women's Ashes in England. (In which case... I call dibs on Meg Lanning for Berkshire right now!)