By Sport Reporter
SURREY CCC have been successful in their bid to run a fully professional women’s team starting in the 2025 season.
After an extensive tender and interview process with the ECB, the club is one of eight counties that have been awarded a team. The new team will be named Surrey and will play wearing the historic Three Feathers crest.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will call The Kia Oval home throughout the year, with an ambition to host 50 per cent of the women’s team matches at The Kia Oval from 2025, focussing on T20 fixtures through double-headers and standalone games.
The club is exploring options for a second ground that would increase the training and match day spaces provided for both teams. In the immediate future, Surrey will utilise facilities available at Guildford CC and LSE New Malden – both high-quality venues that the club has a long-term relationship with.
Surrey’s bid focused on the importance of providing equal treatment to the men’s and women’s teams, providing considerable playing and training opportunities for the new team at The Kia Oval and a commitment to grow the size of the professional squad.
Surrey will also be looking to expand its existing talent pathway in order to ensure that no talented young players miss out on the opportunity to play professional cricket.
There is a long tradition of women’s cricket at the Club and The Kia Oval – the ground has hosted six women’s Test matches, with its first in 1937, more than any other major international venue. Many great players have represented Surrey down the years including Molly Hide, Jan Brittin, Caroline Barrs, Sarah Clarke, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Nat Sciver-Brunt.
The club was the first to employ a full-time Director of Women’s Cricket when Rainford-Brent was appointed in 2014 and the first professional women’s Head Coach in 2017 when Richard Bedbrook took on that position.
Oli Slipper, chair at Surrey CCC, said: “It has been a key priority for Surrey to have the opportunity to run a fully professional women’s team for the first time in the 180-year history of the Club and we are absolutely delighted to have been trusted to do so. Women’s cricket has phenomenal growth potential, and we believe it is a significant opportunity for the sport to bring in new fans.
“The ambitions for our women’s team will be just the same as the men: to develop the superstars of tomorrow through our talent pathway who will play for the Club and go on to represent their country; to win trophies on the pitch and to win fans off it.”
Steve Elworthy, CEO at Surrey CCC, added: “There is no doubt in my mind that this is a game-changing moment for women’s cricket. The last four years of the regional structure have been fantastic for the development of the game on the field but there has been a missed opportunity for the growth of the game off the pitch. I believe that this move will help the women’s game to flourish and will also bring new fans into the club. We’re very proud to be given the opportunity to run a team and are fully committed to driving the women’s game forward in Surrey and south London.
“To have a fully professional women’s team under the Surrey banner will give women and girls across the region a clear route to playing the game they love as a career. Thanks to the excellent work of the Surrey Cricket Foundation, we have a thriving women’s and girls’ recreational game in Surrey – where there are more teams than any other county in the country. A professional team is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for us and gives all those players in the recreational game and in the talent pathway a goal to aim for within the Club.
“With the new team will come new challenges and we are very aware of the limitations that we have as a ground and as a physical space; however, I want to be clear that both teams’ home will be The Kia Oval. We are looking at opportunities to develop a second ground for the club but in the short term, we have a robust plan in place to ensure that both men and women get access to high quality training and playing facilities all year round. We hope that hosting T20 fixtures at The Kia Oval will be a fantastic way to showcase the team to our Surrey fanbase.
“We believe that this evolution in the professionalisation of the domestic women’s game will be a revolutionary step for cricket and we want Surrey to be at the forefront of that.”
