Big three boards in talks for Women's Champions League: Reports

Australia, England, and India are in talks to launch a new women's franchise T20 competition in Women's Champions League. According to reports, the three governing bodies Cricket Australia (CA), England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are discussing the possibility of the tournament as early as next year.

The report published by the Australian newspaper The Age suggests that there has been discussion about the competition during the men's Ashes Test at Lord's and World Test Championship Final at Oval. The report also further added that there has been follow up discussions on the matter during the ICC Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa.

The big three boards have the most prestigious franchise competitions in Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia, The Hundred in England, and India's Women's Premier League (WPL). WBBL has been in place for eight seasons already and The Hundred will be having its third edition this year.

But the biggest shot in the arm occured for franchise women's cricket when India had its inaugural WPL and it was deemed a great success with the teams auction as well as media rights. Mumbai Indians led by Harmanpreet Kaur went on to win the tournament beating Meg Lanning's Delhi Capitals.

West Indies have their own extended exhibiton tournament in line with the men's Caribbean Premier League (CPL) named Women's CPL and New Zealand's domestic competition Super Smash is the other prominent T20 tournament. There is also Hong Kong based FairBreak Invitational tournament which helps players from the Associate teams also participate in a T20 league.

The report added that the Champions League could start as a tournament between the big three - Austrlia, England, and India - and then extend to the other leagues.

The Champions League concept was abandoned in men's cricket after six seasons citing the commercial viability of the tournament. One of the roadblock for the competition will be the limited overseas pool with same set of players representing various franchise leagues.

For instance, Marizanne Kapp has been part of the winning squads in almost all these leagues where she currently represents Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, Delhi Capitals in WPL, and Perth Scorchers in WBBL. Indian players, unlike their male counterparts, are also part of the franchise competitions with Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana all set to featuere in The Hundred once again this season.