Women's National Cricket League
The Women's National Cricket League is the national competition for women's cricket in Australia.
The league competition involves the six member teams playing each other in two 50-over limited-over matches, with the side finishing at the top of the table after the preliminary rounds earning the right to host the best-of-three finals series. The winner of the finals series wins the Ruth Preddey Cup. From 2007–08 onwards the finals series was reduced to a single match as Twenty20 matches were introduced.
The first WNCL took place in 1996–97, replacing the Australian Women's Cricket Championships which had taken place in a two-week tournament format since 1930–31. The Ruth Preddey Cup was introduced to those championships in 1972–73. The competition was expanded to include ACT in the 2009–10 season and Tasmania in the 2010–11 season.
In the 2008–09 season, the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup was introduced for Australian domestic women's teams. The competition was expanded to include ACT and Tasmania in the 2009–10 season.
The Australian Capital Territory participates in the Women's National Cricket League despite not being members of the national association.
Teams
| State/Territory | Team | Home ground | Established | Season | Titles | Runner-up | |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT Meteors | Manuka Oval, Canberra | 2009 | 2009–10 – present | 0 | 0 | |
| New South Wales | New South Wales Breakers | Sydney Cricket Ground | 1996 | 1996–97 – present | 20 | 4 | |
| Queensland | Queensland Fire | Allan Border Field, Brisbane | 1996 | 1996–97 – present | 0 | 5 | |
| South Australia | South Australian Scorpions | Adelaide Oval | 1996 | 1996–97 – present | 1 | 3 | |
| Tasmania | Tasmanian Tigers | Bellerive Oval, Hobart | 2009 | 2010–11 – present | 0 | 0 | |
| Victoria | Victorian Spirit | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 1996 | 1996–97 – present | 2 | 10 | |
| Western Australia | Western Fury | WACA Ground, Perth | 1996 | 1996–97 – present | 1 | 2 |
Each team has used several venues to host matches. For a full list, see list of cricket grounds in Australia.
Competition placings
- 1 – Finished "First" this season, prior to finals.
- 2 – Finished "Second" this season, prior to finals.
- 3 – Finished "Third" this season, prior to finals.
- 4 – Finished "Fourth" this season, prior to finals.
Finals
- 1 – "First Final" match, during the best of three series.
- 2 – "Second Final" match, during the best of three series.
- 3 – "Third Final" match, during the best of three series.
- 4 – "Head-to-Head Result" for the best of three series.
Records