Sources close to the ECB have told CRICKETher that a radical restructuring of English women’s domestic cricket is being planned, with a new “professional” franchise-based competition likely to be introduced in 2016.

The franchises will be based at existing (Men’s) First Class county grounds, but will sit in a new tier above the existing Women’s County Championship, which will essentially become an Under-19 “feeder” league, with the leading women no longer playing county cricket beyond junior level.

It is understood that there will be fewer teams than the existing Women’s County Championship – perhaps just 6, which would mean room for only one London side – a role for which Surrey are perhaps positioning themselves, with the recent appointment of Ebony Rainford-Brent as only England’s second Director of Women’s Cricket.

The other obvious franchise candidates would be Kent, Sussex, Yorkshire, Lancashire + A.N.Othershire, with geographical logic suggesting a Birmingham-based amalgamation of Warwickshire, Notts and Staffs.

There is also expected to be significant overseas involvement. Currently, WCC teams are restricted to just one overseas player, but with Cricket Australia mooting up to three overseas for their Women’s Big Bash League, the ECB are likely to follow suit in order to provide a degree of reciprocity, with several England players hoping to compete in WBBL.

With Round 2 now complete, Australia remain on top, whilst New Zealand have climbed off the bottom, leaving India at the foot of the table.

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Round 3 Fixtures:

• England v Australia
• India v New Zealand
• Sri Lanka v West Indies
• Pakistan v South Africa

England and New Zealand have announced their squads for England’s forthcoming tour of New Zealand.

England:

• Charlotte Edwards
• Lydia Greenway
• Laura Marsh
• Katherine Brunt
• Danielle Hazell
• Lauren Winfield
• Sarah Taylor
• Jenny Gunn
• Danielle Wyatt
• Rebecca Grundy
• Amy Jones
• Heather Knight
• Kate Cross
• Anya Shrubsole
• Nat Sciver

New Zealand:

• Suzie Bates
• Erin Birmingham
• Kate Broadmore
• Sophie Devine
• Georgia Guy
• Holly Huddleston
• Sara McGlashan
• Morna Nielsen
• Katie Perkins
• Anna Peterson
• Rachel Priest
• Hannah Rowe
• Amy Satterthwaite
• Lea Tahuhu

The crucial Women’s International Championship ODI series begins in New Zealand on 11 February; with a T20 series also being played concurrently.

England and India have shared the honours across their Test and ODI series, with India winning the one-off Test, before England came back to take the 3-match ODI rubber 2-0.

At the Test, unfancied India upset the apple-cart by bowling England out for just 92 on the first day, having won a vital toss to put the home side in in overcast conditions. It was a position England were unable to find their way back from, despite a Man-of-the-Match performance from all-rounder Jenny Gunn, who took five wickets in India’s first innings and scored a half-century in England’s second.knock. Needing 62 runs to win on the final day, India were guided home by captain Mithali Raj, and impressive débutante Shikha Pandey.

With the ODIs forming part of the new Women’s International Championship, England knew they had to perform better as the teams headed to Scarborough for two matches in cold and blustery North Yorkshire. And perform better they did, winning the first match by 42 runs (D/L) with Heather Knight taking 3 wickets and scoring a fifty; and the second by 13 runs, as captain Charlotte Edwards carried her bat for a record-breaking 9th ODI hundred. The final match of the series – scheduled at Lords – was disappointingly washed-out; handing England the Royal London One Day trophy and 5 crucial International Championship points to India’s 1.

England have announced their squads for this summer’s series against India and South Africa.

The campaign begins with a one-off Test and 3 ODIs against India – one of the traditional “Big 4” of women’s cricket; followed by 3 T20s versus up-coming young-guns, South Africa.

The big surprise in the Test squad is the inclusion of uncapped ‘journeyman pro’ Sonia Odedra – an aggressive fast-medium pace bowler from Nottinghamshire.

Fast bowler Katherine Brunt is named in Odedra’s place for the ODIs, as she looks to return from a lengthy injury lay-off; with Odedra presumably remaining on standby should Brunt’s return to fitness prove ephemeral.

Finally, the squad for the T20s is then augmented by young seamer Natasha Farrant, who is also recovering from injury; but who England consider one of their brightest prospects for the future.

Full squads:

• Charlotte Edwards (Capt)
• Heather Knight (VC)
• Tammy Beamont
• Katherine Brunt (ODI/T20)
• Kate Cross (Test/ODI)
• Lydia Greenway
• Rebecca Grundy
• Jenny Gunn
• Danielle Hazell
• Amy Jones
• Sonia Odedra (Test)
• Natalie Sciver
• Anya Shrubsole
• Sarah Taylor
• Lauren Winfield
• Natasha Farrant (T20)

India have announced their squad to face England in a one-off Test and three ODIs in August 2014.

Although India haven’t played a Test since 2006, when they beat England at Taunton, this is a strong side and a fiercely contested series is expected.

Indian captain Mithali Raj is one of the all-time greats, having scored more than 6,500 runs in a 12-year career.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, with over 200 career international wickets, will be the big threat to England’s batsmen.

Full squad:

• Mithali Raj (Capt)
• Karuna Jain
• Smriti Mandhana
• Thirush Kamini
• Poonam Raut
• Harmanpreet Kaur
• Jhulan Goswami
• Nagarajan Niranjana
• Shubhlakshmi Sharma
• Rajeshwari Gayakwad
• Ekta Bisht
• Poonam Yadav
• Swagatika Rath
• Vellaswamy Vanitha
• Sushma Verma