Women's National Cricket League

Women's National Cricket League
Countries	Australia
Administrator	Cricket Australia
Format	Limited-overs (50 overs per side)
First tournament	1996–97
Next tournament	2015–16
Tournament format	Single round-robin, then finals series
Number of teams	7
Current champion	New South Wales Breakers
Most successful	New South Wales Breakers (12 titles)
TV	Cricket Australia TV
Website	Cricket Australia

The Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) is the national competition for women's cricket in Australia.

The league competition involves the six member teams playing each other in two 50-over limited-over matches, with the side finishing at the top of the table after the preliminary rounds earning the right to host the best-of-three finals series. The winner of the finals series wins the Ruth Preddey Cup. From 2007–08 onwards the finals series as reduced to a single match as Twenty20 matches were introduced.

The first WNCL took place in 1996–97, replacing the Australian Women's Cricket Championships which had taken place in a two-week tournament format since 1930–31. The Ruth Preddey Cup was introduced to those championships in 1972–73. The competition was expanded to include ACT in the 2009–10 season and Tasmania in the 2010–11 season.

In the 2008–09 season, a Twenty20 competition was introduced for Australian domestic women's teams. The competition was expanded to include ACT and Tasmania in the 2009–10 season.

The Australian Capital Territory participates in the Women's National Cricket League despite not being members of the national association.

Teams

	State	Team	Home Ground	Titles	Runner-up
	New South Wales	New South Wales Breakers	Sydney Cricket Ground Bankstown Oval, Sydney North Sydney Oval	16	2
	Queensland	Queensland Fire	Allan Border Field, Brisbane	0	3
	South Australia	South Australian Scorpions	Adelaide Oval	0	2
	Tasmania	Tasmanian Roar	Bellerive Oval, Hobart	0	0
	Victoria	Victorian Spirit	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2	10
	Western Australia	Western Fury	WACA Ground, Perth Memorial Oval, Aquinas College	0	1
	Australian Capital Territory	ACT Meteors	Manuka Oval, Canberra	0	0

Finals

SEASON	WINNER	RUNNER UP	VENUE	BEST OF 3 FINALS SCORE
1996–97	New South Wales	Victoria		3–0
1997–98	New South Wales	South Australia	Albert Park, Melbourne	3–0
1998–99	New South Wales	Victoria	Princes Park, Melbourne	2–0
1999–00	New South Wales	Western Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2–0
2000–01	New South Wales	Queensland	Bankstown Oval	2–0
2001–02	New South Wales	Victoria	Bankstown Oval	2–0
2002–03	Victoria	New South Wales	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2–0
2003–04	New South Wales	Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2–1
2004–05	Victoria	New South Wales	Bankstown Oval	2–1
2005–06	New South Wales	Queensland	North Sydney Oval	2–1
2006–07	New South Wales	Victoria	Central Reserve, Glen Waverley	2–1
2007–08	New South Wales	South Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	washout, won on virtue of qualifying first
2008–09	New South Wales	Victoria	Sydney Cricket Ground	1–0
2009–10	New South Wales	Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1–0
2010–11	New South Wales	Victoria	Sydney Cricket Ground	1–0
2011–12	New South Wales	Victoria	Sydney Cricket Ground	1–0
2012–13	New South Wales	Queensland	Sydney Cricket Ground	1–0
2013–14	New South Wales	Victoria	North Sydney Oval	1–0
2014–15	New South Wales	South Australia	Blacktown International Sportspark	1-0

Records

Most runs

Player	Team	Runs	Average
Karen Rolton	SA	4797	57.80
Belinda Clark	NSW/Vic	4074	53.61
Mel Jones	Vic	3338	30.35
Lisa Keightley	NSW	3081	37.12
Zoe Goss	Vic/WA	2798	35.87

Most wickets

Player	Team	Wickets	Average
Cathryn Fitzpatrick	Vic	148	17.66
Lisa Sthalekar	NSW	128	22.16
Julie Hayes	NSW	115	26.43
Clea Smith	Vic	115	23.46
Karen Rolton	SA	104	18.21

See also

• Australian women's cricket team
• History of Women's Cricket in Australia
• Lily Poulett-Harris

External links

• WNCL web page with squad lists, results and records
• News item at Cricket Australia