Women’s National Cricket League 2026-27: Schedule, Teams, Squads, Dates, Venues and Complete Guide

The Women’s National Cricket League 2026-27 is the upcoming Australian domestic 50-over competition featuring seven state and territory teams. The latest Cricket Australia match centre lists the season from 28 September 2026 to 20 March 2027, with Queensland entering the campaign as defending champions after winning the 2025-26 title.

The competition brings together the ACT Meteors, New South Wales, Queensland Fire, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Each team plays the other sides twice during the regular season before the top two teams meet in the final for the Ruth Preddey Cup. Cricket Australia describes the WNCL as Australia’s premier women’s domestic 50-over competition.

The 2026-27 season includes seven rounds of home-and-away cricket followed by the final on 20 March 2027. A notable feature of this season is the expanded use of day-night matches, with Cricket Australia announcing 16 WNCL games under lights.

Women’s National Cricket League 2026-27 Overview

Cricket Australia’s current match centre lists the competition from 28 September 2026 through 20 March 2027.

Participating Teams

Seven teams will compete in the WNCL 2026-27 season:

1. ACT Meteors
2. New South Wales
3. Queensland Fire
4. South Australia
5. Tasmania
6. Victoria
7. Western Australia

The seven-team structure covers Australia’s six states plus the Australian Capital Territory.

Queensland begin the season as defending champions, while New South Wales return after finishing runners-up in the 2025-26 final.

Women’s National Cricket League 2026-27 Complete Schedule

Cricket Australia’s July schedule announcement originally listed the first NSW vs Queensland fixture for 29 September. The current Cricket Australia match centre now lists that match for 28 September 2026, so the latest match-centre date has been used below.

Latest Schedule Update

The original Cricket Australia schedule announcement said the WNCL would begin on 29 September 2026, with NSW vs Queensland listed on that date. The current Cricket Australia match centre now lists the first NSW vs Queensland fixture for 28 September 2026, while the Victoria-South Australia and Western Australia-Tasmania opening fixtures remain on 29 September.

Venues

Cricket Australia has highlighted the increased use of lights for WNCL cricket in 2026-27. All Junction Oval and WACA Ground matches are scheduled as day-night contests, while South Australia will also host several day-night fixtures at Karen Rolton Oval.

Team Squads

Cricket Australia announced the state and territory contract lists for the 2026-27 WNCL season in May.

ACT Meteors Squad

Amy Hunter, Anesu Mushangwe, Angelina Genford, Annie Wikman, Carly Leeson, Gabrielle Sutcliffe, Georgia Elwiss, Grace Dignam, Grace Lyons, Holly Ferling, Olivia Porter, Paris Bowdler, Rachel Carroll, Shivani Mehta, Zoe Cooke.

Rookie: Stella Wilde.

New South Wales Squad

Samantha Bates, Caoimhe Bray, Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Lauren Cheatle, Sarah Coyte, Hannah Darlington, Sienna Eve, Ashleigh Gardner, Elsa Hunter, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Katie Mack, Emma Manix-Geeves, Claire Moore, Frankie Nicklin, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia Wilson.

Rookies: Lucy Finn, Tara French.

Emma Manix-Geeves moved from Tasmania to NSW, while Alyssa Healy retired from cricket and is therefore not part of the 2026-27 NSW squad.

Queensland Fire Squad

Lily Bassingthwaighte, Bonnie Berry, Lucy Bourke, Grace Collins, Sianna Ginger, Lilli Hamilton, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Charli Knott, Annie O’Neil, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Georgia Voll, Catherine White, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mikayla Wrigley.

Rookies: Aya Kato-Stafford, Filippa SueSee.

South Australia Squad

Hollie Armitage, Jemma Barsby, Darcie Brown, Emma De Broughe, Emmerson Filsell, Ellie Johnston, Eleanor Larosa, Isabella Malgioglio, Tahlia McGrath, Courtney Neale, Bridget Patterson, Maddie Penna, Kate Peterson, Megan Schutt, Courtney Webb, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Ella Wilson, Beth Worthley.

Rookie: Maggie Clark.

Tasmania Squad

Nicola Carey, Alice Davidson-Richards, Maisy Gibson, Ella Hayward, Ruth Johnston, Sara Kennedy, Lizelle Lee, Caity Mair, Kate Pelle, Tabatha Saville, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Courtney Sippel, Lauren Smith, Naomi Stalenberg, Rachel Trenaman, Elyse Villani, Callie Wilson.

Rookies: Ava Curtis, Mia Barwick.

Victoria Squad

Ira Aery, Sophie Day, Samara Dulvin, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Kim Garth, Hasrat Gill, Olivia Henry, Milly Illingworth, Rhys McKenna, Sophie Molineux, Indigo Noble, Mia Perrin, Georgia Prestwidge, Zoe Samuel, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.

Rookie: Bronte Leishman.

Western Australia Squad

Chloe Ainsworth, Zoe Britcliffe, Mathilda Carmichael, Maddy Darke, Amy Edgar, Heather Graham, Mikayla Hinkley, Ebony Hoskin, Alana King, Shay Manolini, Rebecca McGrath, Ines McKeon, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Taneale Peschel, Chloe Piparo, Ruby Strange, Maddie White, Tegan Williamson.

Rookie: Chloe Bartholomew.

Tournament Format

The WNCL is a 50-over domestic competition.

The 2026-27 season consists of 42 regular-season matches, followed by a single final, making a total of 43 matches. Each of the seven teams plays the other six teams twice during the home-and-away phase.

The top two teams on the regular-season table qualify for the final, with the winner claiming the Ruth Preddey Cup.

The 2025-26 standings demonstrate the competition’s points structure, which includes match results, net run rate and batting bonus points.

Previous Edition

The previous WNCL season was the 2025-26 Women’s National Cricket League.

Queensland defeated New South Wales in the final to win the Ruth Preddey Cup. Queensland scored 7-332 from 50 overs, before rain reduced NSW’s chase to 32 overs and a revised target of 220. NSW finished on 6-212, giving Queensland a seven-run DLS victory.

Final result:

• Queensland Fire: 7-332
• New South Wales: 6-212
• Queensland won by 7 runs (DLS)
• Player of the Final: Grace Harris
• Grace Harris: 111 from 94 balls
• Georgia Redmayne: 105
• Tahlia Wilson: 76 for NSW

Queensland’s victory was their second WNCL title, following their previous championship in 2020-21.

Defending Champions

Queensland Fire are the defending WNCL champions.

They won the 2025-26 final against NSW by seven runs under the DLS Method. Their 2026-27 campaign therefore begins with a title defence, and their opening-round fixtures are again against the previous season’s finalists, New South Wales.

Queensland have retained much of the group that delivered the 2025-26 title while also adding younger players to their contracted squad.

Previous Season Runner-Up

New South Wales were the 2025-26 WNCL runners-up.

The Breakers entered the final after topping the regular-season standings with 11 wins from 12 matches and 49 points, before losing the rain-affected final to Queensland.

NSW and Queensland therefore meet again at the start of the new campaign, creating a direct rematch of the previous season’s final.

Key Players to Watch

Georgia Redmayne – Queensland

Redmayne was an important part of Queensland’s 2025-26 title campaign and scored 453 regular-season runs, including three centuries. She also made 105 in the final against NSW.

Grace Harris – Queensland

Harris produced the match-winning innings in the 2025-26 final, scoring 111 from 94 balls. She was subsequently named Player of the Final.

Katie Mack – New South Wales

Mack was named the 2025-26 WNCL Player of the Year after scoring 632 runs at an average of 63.20. She also passed 3,500 career WNCL runs during the season.

Amanda-Jade Wellington – South Australia

Wellington finished the 2025-26 campaign with 20 wickets and moved past Lisa Sthalekar to become the leading wicket-taker in WNCL history.

Rachel Trenaman – Tasmania

Trenaman led the 2025-26 WNCL run-scoring charts with 648 runs at an average of 81.00, including two centuries.

Annie Wikman – ACT Meteors

Wikman had a breakout 2025-26 campaign, scoring 540 runs at an average of 60.00 and making her maiden WNCL century with an unbeaten 142 against Victoria.

Key Matches

New South Wales vs Queensland

The opening NSW-Queensland fixture is particularly significant because it brings together the finalists from the 2025-26 season. Queensland won the previous final, while NSW had topped the regular-season table.

Victoria vs South Australia

Victoria and South Australia meet twice in the opening round, with both fixtures scheduled at Junction Oval.

Queensland vs Western Australia

The two sides meet twice at Allan Border Field in February, forming an important late-season pairing before the final qualification picture is established.

Western Australia vs New South Wales

The final round includes two WACA Ground meetings between Western Australia and NSW on 10 and 12 March, just over a week before the final.

Records and History

The WNCL began in 1996-97, replacing the Australian Women’s Cricket Championships, and is contested for the Ruth Preddey Cup. The 2025-26 season was the competition’s 30th edition.

New South Wales remain the most successful team in WNCL history, with 21 titles. Victoria are the next most successful side according to Cricket Australia’s historical summary.

Queensland’s 2025-26 championship was their second WNCL title, following their 2020-21 success.

Individual records also remain a major part of the competition’s history. Amanda-Jade Wellington became the WNCL’s leading wicket-taker during the 2025-26 season, while Karen Rolton’s career tally of 5,521 runs remained the benchmark mentioned by Cricket Australia during the season.

Important Dates

What to Expect

The 2026-27 WNCL season will feature the defending champions Queensland, last season’s runners-up NSW and five other state or territory teams competing across a seven-round regular season.

Queensland enter the campaign after winning their second WNCL title, while NSW will attempt to return to the final after topping the 2025-26 regular-season standings. South Australia also enter the season after a strong finish to the previous campaign, while Tasmania have changed their captaincy and added Ella Hayward and Alice Davidson-Richards to their squad.

Victoria begin a new phase under Nicole Faltum’s full-time captaincy after a winless 2025-26 campaign, while Tasmania will be led by Maisy Gibson following Elyse Villani’s move away from the captaincy.

Another important feature will be the increased number of day-night fixtures. Cricket Australia has scheduled 16 WNCL matches under lights, with Junction Oval and WACA Ground fixtures specifically highlighted as day-night contests.

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