DURHAM have confirmed their desire to being professional women’s cricket to the North-East as part of the ECB’s planned restructuring of the women’s game.

In a major revamp of the way the sport operates, the ECB will select eight counties to have professional women’s teams, forming a new structure from 2025 onwards aimed at further growing women’s cricket across the country.

Durham, whose men’s side will return to the top tier of the County Championship this summer, have recently aligned their women’s pathway to the men’s in an effort to mirror the success of the male side and develop world-class female players from across the county and wider region.

The club have been preparing for the opportunity to develop a professional women’s cricket arm for a number of years with the addition of new facilities such as the nursery ground, a new high-performance gym and a second set of outdoor grass nets, which will allow the team to not only play their games at Durham’s Seat Unique Riverside stadium but also train on-site alongside the men’s team, creating a hub for cricket development in the north.

Durham’s bid is being supported by Durham Council and a number of organisations from across the region as, not only will it give female players a chance to play professional cricket in the North-East, it also has the potential to attract significant investment and create a number of new jobs.

Marcus North, Durham’s director of cricket, said: “This is a huge opportunity for the club and the whole of the north to bring another women’s professional sport to the region.

“We want to give women the same opportunities the men were afforded just over 30 years ago.

“We know we have the female talent across the region, and this will allow them to realise that talent at the highest level in their home region.

“It will also bring with it huge investment and more professional games to the club which will have a wider impact in terms of employment and economic benefit into the area.”

Durham submit their bid to bring a tier one women’s team to the county later this month, and expect to receive notification of whether or not they have been successful later in the summer.