Aussies set for Super League series

Seven of Australia's top cricketers will feature in England's inaugural Super League this winter as the women's game continues to go from strength to strength around the globe.

Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars skipper Meg Lanning leads the contingent of seven Aussies that will play in the new competition, with 11 other leading international players.

Some 65 international women's cricketers nominated to be part of the Super League, which will be round-robin T20 tournament played over 16 days in late July and early August, with a separate finals day.

Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Sarah Coyte, Alex Blackwell, Rene Farrell and Beth Mooney are the other Australians who will join Lanning in featuring in the competition, which has plans to expand future editions to incorporate a 50-over competition.

"The interest in the Super League and Rebel Women's Big Bash League from overseas players demonstrates how valuable these new competitions are for the global development of women's cricket," Lanning said in a statement confirming the signings.

"As international players it's a really good time to be involved in the game.

"It's another huge step forward for the women's game following on from the WBBL and I can't wait to get stuck in with the Surrey Stars."

There had been eight Australians set to feature in the Super League, but Jess Jonassen was forced to pull out of the competition as she faces surgery to fix a knee injury.

Southern Stars physiotherapist Kate Mahony said Jonassen had been battling the left knee injury throughout the past season.

" She was reviewed by an orthopaedic surgeon after returning from the World Twenty20 in India and will require arthroscopy surgery later this month," Mahony said.

"Her rehabilitation and return to play will be more clear after the procedure but we are hopeful that she will recover in time for the Southern Stars Tour of Sri Lanka later this year."

For Lanning, who has a notoriously woeful success rate with coin tosses, the Super League will be a chance for her focus on batting without the burden of captaincy with England's Natalie Sciver the Surrey captain.

"It is a really good opportunity to get over to England and play some more cricket in English conditions," added Lanning.

"It will also be great to play with Natalie again, she fitted in really nicely with our group at the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL.  

"It will be a little bit strange for me not to be in the captaincy role, but I'm backing Nat to do a great job leading the side."

Each of the six Super League teams will field three overseas players in the round-robin T20 event in July and August, with top performers from the recent ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament set to be involved.

Lanning will play alongside Southern Stars fast bowler Rene Farrell for the Surrey Stars club. Coyte will play alongside West Indies star Deandra Dottin for the Lancashire Thunder while Perry has been picked up the Loughborough Lightning.

Schutt will play alongside New Zealand White Ferns pair Sara McGlashan and Suzie Bates, who was this week named Wisden's leading women's cricketer for 2015, in a team to be captained by veteran England skipper Charlotte Edwards.

Blackwell and Mooney will be teammates at the Yorkshire Diamonds, leaving the Western Storm the only club without an Australian on their books.