Australia Stars Likely to Miss Most WNCL Matches Due to Packed Schedule

Australian women cricketers will not have much time for domestic cricket this season. With a busy international calendar, most of the top players are expected to miss a large part of the WNCL competition.

Cricket Australia released the domestic fixtures for the 2026-27 season. But the schedule is packed. The Australia women’s team has series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, followed by the first-ever women’s Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. Then comes the WPL. All this means very little room for the stars to play for their states.

Last season, some players like Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland managed to play a few WNCL matches. But others like Beth Mooney and Ash Gardner did not feature at all for their states. This season, things will be even tighter.

Only two WNCL matches are scheduled before the Bangladesh and New Zealand tours begin in October. These tours will also overlap with the start of the WBBL. Then in January, Australia’s best players will head to India for the WPL. After that, they will travel to Sri Lanka for the Champions Trophy in February. Then they return for a New Zealand ODI series in March, followed by a tour of South Africa.

The final round of the WNCL overlaps with the New Zealand ODIs. The final is set for March 20. Last season, Australia’s top players could not play in the WNCL final because they were on a tour of the Caribbean.

CA’s head of scheduling, Peter Roach, said the women’s schedule is now looking a lot like the men’s. Finding time for top players to feature in domestic cricket is getting harder.

“Whilst technically there’s maybe a day here and there… As the years go by, it’s becoming a little bit more like the men, where finding opportunities for them to compete in domestic cricket… now it’s probably the opposite,” Roach said.

The Australia A women’s team is also going on a multi-format tour of India, which overlaps with the opening round of the WNCL on September 29.

For state teams, this is a challenge. For fans, it means fewer chances to see their favourite stars in domestic colours. For the players, it is the price of a packed international calendar.

                                               

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