Loughborough Women
Wikipedia - Charlotte Edwards Cup
The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tournament is named after England's former captain and most capped player, Charlotte Edwards.
The tournament features eight teams, representing regional hubs across England and Wales. The tournament is a successor to the Women's Cricket Super League, which ended in 2019. Whilst a regional T20 tournament was planned for 2020, it was cancelled in favour of the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in the shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament now runs alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and The Hundred.
History
With the ending of the Women's Cricket Super League in 2019, the England and Wales Cricket Board intended to launch a new regional structure for domestic women's cricket in England and Wales, including a 50-over competition, a Twenty20 competition and The Hundred. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, only the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was able to go ahead that season, with six new teams competing, plus Western Storm and Southern Vipers carried over from the WCSL, representing regional hubs.
In 2021, with a return to a full schedule, it was announced in February that the new Twenty20 competition would be called the Women's Regional T20, to run alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and to be competed for by the same teams. Two days before the tournament began, it was renamed the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with the first edition of the tournament getting underway on 26 June, eventually being won by South East Stars. The second edition of the tournament was won by Southern Vipers, who beat Central Sparks in the final. Vipers retained their title in 2023, beating The Blaze in the final by 7 wickets.