Telstra Stadium to host WNCL match in season 2003-04

Telstra Stadium will host its first Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) match next year after Cricket Australia today released the official program for the 2003-04 women's domestic season.

The New South Wales Breakers (formerly the New South Wales Institute of Sport Blues) and Queensland Fire will become the first women's cricket teams to play a match at the venue when they do battle in a limited-overs game on 18 January.

The Sydney venue has previously hosted one cricket match in its history. Steve Waugh's New South Wales Blues played the first cricket match at Telstra Stadium in an ING Cup fixture against Southern Redbacks on 16 February this year.

The 2003-04 WNCL program also features two new regional venues.

Bowral, in the southern highlands of New South Wales, hosts the clash between the New South Wales Breakers and the Southern Scorpions at Bradman Oval on 6 and 7 December, while Frankston's Butler Oval will host the re-match between last season's finalists Victoria Sprit and the New South Wales Breakers on 20-21 December.

The opening round of the WNCL begins on 22 November, when reigning champions Victoria Spirit take on last season's fourth-placed Queensland Fire at Allan Border Field in Queensland.

The double-action opening round on 22 November also sees Western Fury host last season's runners-up, the New South Wales Breakers, at the WACA Ground in Perth.

This season will again see the WNCL finals series hosted by the team that finishes the home-and-away season in top position. In the past, the finals were hosted by the team that finished first in the previous season.

At youth level, national under-age championships for under-15, under-17 and under-19 players, will also take place over the summer.

The under-15 championships (15-19 December) will be staged in Melbourne, the under-17 championships (19-23 January) in Geelong, while the under-19 championships (7-14 January) travel to Hobart for the first time. The Cricket Australia Cup (women's) will be held in Sydney (8-12 December).

The international schedule for the Australian women's team, the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars, will be announced in the coming months.