The big news today is that England stars Lauren Winfield and Kate Cross are heading to WBBL’s Brisbane Heat.

https://twitter.com/HeatWBBL/status/625899805215076352

CRICKETher understands that several contracted England players have been given leave to take part in the inaugural Women’s Big Bash, which takes place in December / January; and we can expect further announcements over the next couple of weeks, as the i-s are dotted and the t-s are crossed on individual contracts.

However, ECB sources have also confirmed to CRICKETher one slightly disappointing piece of news: England’s contracted players will be expected to return to Blighty by mid-January in preparation for their tour to South Africa, and so will miss the semi-finals and the final.

This is neither unexpected nor unprecedented – the first duty of England-contracted players is rightly to England; and this kind of thing is common in The Other Game with the IPL.

But it is still a pity for the fans (not to mention the girls themselves) that the calendars could not have been tweaked slightly by just a couple of weeks to allow the England players to participate in the “business end” of the competition.