Women’s domestic schedule released for 2026-27 summer of cricket

Cricket Australia has released the 2026-27 schedules for the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) and T20 Spring Challenge, complementing a big summer of international and Big Bash cricket.

Key Highlights

• An increase to 16 WNCL matches to be played as day-night contests, with all Junction Oval and WACA Ground matches to be played under lights.
• Queensland to begin its WNCL title defence against grand final opponent New South Wales in Round 1 at Cricket Central, the scene of their 2025-26 triumph.
• The other opening round contests (Victoria v South Australia and Western Australia v Tasmania) to be played as day-night matches.
• WNCL to begin on September 29, with the Final to be played on Saturday, March 20.
• T20 Spring Challenge to return to Sydney for an action-packed 10-day competition leading into Weber WBBL|12 .

Every ball will be streamed live across cricket.com.au, Cricket Australia Live app and Kayo Sports. The WNCL Final will also be broadcast on Fox Cricket.

The Women’s domestic cricket action gets underway with a jam-packed opening day on September 29 that will see three WNCL matches take place. Last season’s grand finalists New South Wales and Queensland will meet again at Cricket Central, the location of the Fire’s 2025-26 title victory, while Victoria and Western Australia will host South Australia and Tasmania respectively under lights.

The newly-installed lights at Junction Oval allow Victoria to host all six home fixtures as day-night contests. Western Australia will also play all six games at the WACA Ground as day-night matches and South Australia will host four day-night matches.

This year, there will be just one WNCL Round prior to the T20 Spring Challenge, which will run October 12-21.  This is due to the India A v Australia A series, while the Australia Women’s team will host back-to-back home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand from October 9-22.

The Spring Challenge will return to Sydney as each of the eight Big Bash Clubs, as well as ACT Meteors, compete in four matches apiece across six days of competition. The semi-finals on October 20 and the Grand Final on October 21 at Cricket Central will follow.

WNCL action will recommence following the Weber WBBL season (Oct 29 – Dec 5), with Round 2 getting underway on December 14 as South Australia hosts Western Australia at Karen Rolton Oval, with round matches going through until March 12.

The Governor-General’s XI match will be announced shortly.

Peter Roach, Cricket Australia Head of Scheduling, Operations and Domestic Cricket, said:

“After Australia’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup victory, we’re looking forward to another big summer of Women’s domestic cricket with some of the world’s best talent on display.

“Australian Women’s cricket goes from strength-to-strength, and across the WNCL and Spring Challenge there will be plenty of world-class players and great contests to entertain fans.

“With the new lights in operation at Junction Oval, we’re able to put on more day-night WNCL fixtures, alongside those at the WACA Ground and Karen Rolton Oval, giving families a better chance to get to venues or tune in to the livestream. We also have three matches under lights in Spring Challenge.  The evening timeslot gives our players more exposure to night cricket, which is increasingly part of international schedules.

“New South Wales will become a hive of cricket activity during October, with the T20 Spring Challenge, alongside Australia’s T20 Series against New Zealand, in what is shaping as a very exciting month for the sport.

“We’re looking forward to an incredible summer of cricket, and thank the State and Territory Associations, as well as all our players and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, for their support bringing the season to life.”

WOMEN’S NATIONAL CRICKET LEAGUE

Round 1
Sep 29: Victoria v South Australia | Junction Oval D/N
Sep 29: New South Wales v Queensland | Cricket Central
Sep 29: Western Australia v Tasmania | WACA Ground D/N
Oct 1: Victoria v South Australia | Junction Oval D/N
Oct 1: New South Wales v Queensland | Cricket Central
Oct 1: Western Australia v Tasmania | WACA Ground D/N
(Bye: ACT)

Round 2
Dec 14: South Australia v Western Australia | Karen Rolton Oval
Dec 15: ACT v New South Wales | EPC Solar Park
Dec 16: South Australia v Western Australia | Karen Rolton Oval
Dec 17: ACT v New South Wales | EPC Solar Park
Dec 20: Tasmania v Victoria | Ninja Stadium
Dec 22: Tasmania v Victoria | Ninja Stadium
(Bye: Queensland)

Round 3
Jan 4: Queensland v ACT | Allan Border Field
Jan 6: Queensland v ACT | Allan Border Field
Jan 8: Western Australia v Victoria | WACA Ground D/N
Jan 10: Western Australia v Victoria | WACA Ground D/N
* Feb 8: Tasmania v South Australia | Ninja Stadium
* Feb 10: Tasmania v South Australia | Ninja Stadium
(Bye: New South Wales)

 * Played at this time to accommodate ground availability

Round 4
Jan 9: Tasmania v New South Wales | Ninja Stadium
Jan 11: Tasmania v New South Wales | Ninja Stadium
Jan 19: South Australia v ACT | Karen Rolton Oval D/N
Jan 20: Victoria v Queensland | Junction Oval D/N
Jan 21: South Australia v ACT | Karen Rolton Oval D/N
Jan 22: Victoria v Queensland | Junction Oval D/N
(Bye: Western Australia)

Round 5
Jan 31: Queensland v Tasmania | Allan Border Field
Feb 2: Queensland v Tasmania | Allan Border Field
Feb 3: ACT v Western Australia | EPC Solar Park
Feb 4: New South Wales v Victoria | Cricket Central
Feb 5: ACT v Western Australia | EPC Solar Park
Feb 6: New South Wales v Victoria | Cricket Central
(Bye: South Australia)

Round 6
Feb 21: Queensland v Western Australia | Allan Border Field
Feb 21: New South Wales v South Australia | Cricket Central
Feb 23: Queensland v Western Australia | Allan Border Field
Feb 23: New South Wales v South Australia | Cricket Central
Feb 23: Victoria v ACT | Junction Oval D/N
Feb 25: Victoria v ACT | Junction Oval D/N
(Bye: Tasmania)

Round 7
Mar 10: ACT v Tasmania | EPC Solar Park
Mar 10: South Australia v Queensland | Karen Rolton Oval D/N
Mar 10: Western Australia v New South Wales | WACA Ground D/N
Mar 12: ACT v Tasmania | EPC Solar Park
Mar 12: South Australia v Queensland | Karen Rolton Oval D/N
Mar 12: Western Australia v New South Wales | WACA Ground D/N
(Bye: Victoria)

Final
March 20, 2027

T20 SPRING CHALLENGE

Oct 12: Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat| Hurstville Oval
Oct 12: Hobart Hurricanes v ACT Meteors | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 12: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars | Hurstville Oval
Oct 12: Melbourne Renegades v Perth Scorchers | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 13: Sydney Sixers v ACT Meteors | Bankstown Oval
Oct 13: Adelaide Strikers v Perth Scorchers | Bankstown Oval
Oct 13: Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat | Bankstown Oval (N)
Oct 14: Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars | Bankstown Oval
Oct 14: Adelaide Strikers v Hobart Hurricanes | Bankstown Oval (N)
Oct 16: Brisbane Heat v ACT Meteors | Raby Oval No.1 
Oct 17: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Renegades | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 17: Hobart Hurricanes v Perth Scorchers | Blacktown International Sports Park 1
Oct 17: Sydney Sixers v Adelaide Strikers | Blacktown International Sports Park 1
Oct 17: ACT Meteors v Melbourne Stars | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 18: Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 18: Brisbane Heat v Adelaide Strikers | Blacktown International Sports Park 2
Oct 18: Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers | Blacktown International Sports Park 1
Oct 18: Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Stars | Blacktown International Sports Park 1 (N)

Semi-finals
Oct 20: 1 v 4 | Cricket Central
Oct 20: 2 v 3 | Cricket Central

Final
Oct 21: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 | Cricket Central

ENDS