Phoebe Graham blog: How will Women’s Premier League affect this year’s T20 World Cup? | Cricket News

You can’t ignore the noise of the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction, which took place on Monday morning during the height of England’s T20 World Cup campaign.

The night didn’t disappoint and credit to England who did a superb job of staying professional and not letting it affect their performance against Ireland.

England called it: ‘the elephant in the room’ that they would speak about. It definitely had to be spoken about as they moved meeting rooms ahead of the game due to the noise of fans watching the WPL auction on screens nearby.

During the auction, England carried out a convincing win over Ireland and two of the new WPL players Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone shone brightly. Ecclestone taking 3-13 in her four overs and Capsey hitting 51 off just 22 balls – the joint-fastest T20 50 in the competition’s history.

The women’s auction was slap bang in the middle of the group stages which was always going to cause upsets. Picks were based on ‘game-changers’ and there were bidding wars for the top players of the world, Ash Gardener being the most expensive pick at £340,000, with Nat Sciver-Brunt not far behind at £320,000.

We saw the ‘capping’ system go against players such as Danni Wyatt and Katherine Sciver-Brunt who did not get picked up. This could cause tension in camp but knowing the strength of the group, I’m sure the England girls will celebrate their team-mates’ success.

Nat Sciver-Brunt will become one of the highest-earning sportswomen in England. It’s huge strides for women’s sport and I hope all teams celebrate the positives of the auction.

I can’t help but think that the overseas picks are an early indicator of how this year’s World Cup is likely pan out. Seven England players selected, 15 Australian, three South African, two Kiwis and one from West Indies and one from the USA (big shout to Tara Norris!).

With a strong start to both England’s and Australia’s campaigns, it will fill them with more confidence going into the later stages.

India will be animated to perform, proudly knowing their domestic competition is rocking team dynamics. One of the most expensive Indian players of the WPL was Jemimah Rodrigues, who played a stunning innings of 53 not out against Pakistan in a nerve-wracking game. It was nice to see her back in form and humbly dedicating her performance to her family for their continuous support.

Pakistan look a challenging team and I hope this tournament gives some of their players the world stage they need to go on and play tournament cricket across the globe.

A team that has pleasantly surprised me and currently sitting top of Group A is Sri Lanka after their shock win against South Africa in the opening match. Yet to play Australia or New Zealand, they have some tough competition ahead. But if they continue in this form, they could grant themselves a spot in the semi-finals.

New Zealand have been disappointing and are yet to win a game. They’ve been bowled out for 67 against South Africa and 76 against Australia. I’ve just finished my first Super Smash tournament with the Northern Brave in New Zealand. I was overall impressed with the standard domestically but you can see they need to make changes to the competition so it competes with the WPL, BBL and The Hundred.

This year’s World Cup may be a wake-up call back to New Zealand for improvement in their T20 competition domestically so their international players play more competitive cricket.

The WPL auction will have rocked teams but the strongest teams will shine through. Jon Lewis has created a free-flowing positive environment and long may this continue. If it gives Katherine Sciver-Brunt extra fuel when England face the Aussies I’m okay with that.

Keep going England, we’re loving watching you play back home and seven of you selected for the WPL is credit to the new domestic English system.

Watch England’s T20 World Cup campaign live on Sky Sports Cricket. They play India next, live from 12.30pm on Saturday.