Cricket Australia launches new National Indoor League

Australia’s best indoor cricketers will compete in a new national competition beginning this month, the 2017 Beastwear National Indoor Cricket League (NICL).

The new competition will feature 10 open men’s divisions and six open women’s divisions, with up to 75 teams looking to win the title of National Champions and more than $50,000 in prize money.

The NICL promises to be a fast, fun, exciting new competition, with regular matches held across the country.

Matches will be played weekly from April through until the NICL Finals Series in September, with around 750 participants expected to compete in matches at almost 50 indoor cricket centres Australia-wide.

Cricket Australia has partnered with Beastwear as the naming rights sponsor of the NICL for two seasons, with this being the first major commercial partnership of its kind with indoor cricket in Australia.

Introducing the new league, Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Game and Market Development, Andrew Ingleton, stated “the launch of a new national competition, the Beastwear National Indoor Cricket League, is an exciting step forward for Indoor Cricket in Australia.

“There are more than 180,000 participants in indoor cricket across Australia, and this competition will play an important role in raising the profile of indoor cricket and also offer a clear pathway for our indoor cricketers.

“We believe the NICL will help to drive participation across the country and also assist with players’ skill development, leading to a higher standard of indoor cricket overall.

“This is a significant year for Australia’s indoor cricketers. A number of major events are fast approaching, including the 2017 Indoor Cricket National Championships in July - which will combine open and junior divisions for the first time - plus the 2017 Indoor Cricket World Cup for our national teams in September and the inaugural NICL.

The NICL men’s divisions will include: ACT, NSW Metro, NSW Country, North Queensland, South-East Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria East, Victoria West and Western Australia while the women’s divisions will include: NSW, South Australia, South-East Queensland, Victoria East, Victoria West and Western Australia.

Divisional finals will be played in the first two weeks of August, ahead of the National Indoor Cricket League Finals Series from 1st September to 3rd September.

A National Match of the Day will be live-streamed on each Sunday during the competition, starting on 23rd April which will include one women’s match and one men’s match, and broadcast through the Cricket Australia Indoor Facebook Page.

A new tournament website, www.nicl.com.au, will go live later this week.

Image courtesy of Cricket Australia.

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