International stars to light up New Zealand's domestic T20 competition

New Zealand’s women’s Super Smash competition is poised for an international injection with the international players being available for the entire duration of the tournament.



“With the Blackcaps Test team in Australia and the White Ferns available throughout, the Super Smash gets a special window in which Kiwi cricket fans can watch the best white ball players in the country compete for domestic glory,” Super Smash League Manager Wade Johnson said.



With the 2018-19 double headers being a great success, Johnson added that the number of double header days in the T20 competition for 2019-20 has been increased from 16 to 21. He added that the domestic Twenty20 competition is building on the buzz and success of last year.



“We have also seen increases in broadcast coverage with a 95% increase through our partners at Sky TV. This includes a 170% increase in women’s Super Smash coverage. This is great for the competition as the public can consume more of the Super Smash on TV than ever before!”



Both the men’s and women’s competitions will start on December 13, with the women beginning with a ‘centralised round’ of matches at the NZ high performance centra in Lincoln.



The format of the tournament has been slightly tweaked with the introduction of an Elimination Final. The Grand Final will be hosted by the top qualifier in the group stage.



In the other domestic competitions, both the one-day men’s and women’s competitions will follow a similar structure to last season.



This news comes on the back of the creation of the ‘Women’s Master Agreement’ between NZC and NZPA— a memorandum of understand that clearly indicated the board’s desire to develop the women’s game.