Women's County Championship
| Administrator | England and Wales Cricket Board |
|---|---|
| Format | Limited overs cricket |
| First tournament | 1997 |
| Tournament format | League system in five divisions |
| Number of teams | 37 |
| Current champion | Kent |
| Most successful | Kent (7 titles) |
The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup, is a women's cricket competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. It is the women's equivalent of the County Championship, although it operates as a 50-over limited overs cricket competition with teams organised into a number of divisions. It was introduced in 1997 to replace the Women's Area Championship.
The teams competing in the Championship are drawn mostly from the historic counties of England, with 34 teams representing these. The Scottish national side has competed in the competition since 2007, the Wales women's national cricket team since 2008 and the Netherlands joined in 2009. The Ireland national team played in the competition between 2009 and 2015 before withdrawing in early 2016, causing fixtures for the 2016 season to be rescheduled and one fewer team to compete in Division 2 during the 2016 season.
The competition is the longest established women's cricket competition in England and Wales. It operates alongside the Women's Twenty20 Cup, established in 2009, and the Women's Cricket Super League, a franchise league with six teams initially playing Twenty20 cricket.
The current champions are Kent. Kent are also the most successful team in the history of the Championship with seven titles as of September 2016. Sussex and Yorkshire have both won six titles.
The inaugural Women's County Championship took place in 1997, with 16 teams competing in three divisions. This first tournament was organised and run by the Women's Cricket Association, which voted to merge with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on 29 March 1998. As such, the ECB has administered the competition since 1998.
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