FEMALE CRICKET - GROWTH FOCUS (2026)

As all CL clubs will be aware, the growth of female cricket across the province is a major strategic focus for the CL Board over the next 2/3 years.

With this core objective in mind, the Board has previously communicated a series of actions/initiatives aimed at facilitating achievement of this goal across the club cricket community.

The actions/initiatives are outlined at a high level below:

• Training supports for Coaching Kids (5-11 years).
• Supports for the adoption of the It’s Wicket programme at club level.
• Action on registration fees for new youth and women players.
• A fee waiver for entry level teams into women's competitions.
• Modifications to our competition & affiliation fee structure to incentivise the establishment and sustainment of youth & women's teams.
• Introduction of an Open teams capacity cap to facilitate clubs in allocating material capacity for youth and women’s teams to participate on an equitable basis.

This is not the totality of what will be required to fully realise our shared goals however it is an important step forward as we increasingly prioritise the quality and inclusiveness of our club cricket.

Early player registration numbers are encouraging with over 600 female players already signed up for the 2026 season.

The top 10 clubs (in terms of registered female players) to-date are as follows:

Leinster (57)
Clontarf (44)
Merrion (42)
Pembroke (40)
Merrion (35)
Terenure (35)
Malahide (30)
North Kildare (30)
The Hills (28)
Adamstown (22)
Rush (22)

There are also a number of clubs which have entered the CL women’s league programme for the first time in 2026 as follows:

Athlone
Carlow
Finglas
Kilkenny
Laois
Tyrrelstown

This has enabled the Women’s Committee to establish a 5th league for the first time with a record 40 teams participating across the five women’s leagues.

The 2026 season will also see an increased number of Women’s Premier League games being played on weekend dates as we look to further enhance the profile of the top-level women’s competition - in fact, it is planned that 30 of the 72 Premier League fixtures will take place on weekend dates.

In aggregate, 22 clubs have entered teams in our Women’s competitions for 2026. Whilst this is encouraging progress, all clubs are encouraged to follow this path as part of our shared objectives around sustainability and inclusivity.

Players can still register by following this link:

www.cricketleinster.ie/news/registration-for-the-2026-season-now-open

Our thanks as always to Arun Kumar and Yogesh Kashyap at Sports Hub for their sponsorship support of women’s cricket in Leinster - it is very much appreciated.