Talks on for London Championship in the absence of WCSL, County Championship

Cricket has come to standstill due to ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has seen many matches and tours getting postponed or cancelled. Amidst the standstill in cricket, four Counties in England are planning to launch a new 50-over women's competition this summer, reported ESPNCricinfo.

With the Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL) and 50-over County Championship scrapped from 2020, some Counties are feeling they are being robbed of some quality cricket. With 'The Hundred' set to launch in July and eight centres already being finalised, the four Counties- Surrey, Middlesex, Kent and Essex are in talks to contest the London Championship this season.

The four clubs are also hopeful that the other counties too will join in future. Sussex and Hampshire are keen to join the four counties, which may then lead to a change in name of the competition.

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"Going from having all those counties to eight regional centres of excellence smacks of Dr Beeching's cuts to the railways in the 1960s," a county chairman said. "This is the start of the county comeback."

With 'The Hundred' set to grab eyeballs in the first edition, the four Counties are interested to host the 50-over Championship so that women's cricket gets promoted as much as possible. Although the competition has the backing of the ECB, the counties feel that the board hasn't done enough to fill the void created after scrapping the County Championship and the WCSL.