Lauren Winfield-Hill has expressed concern over the effects of English domestic players being crowded out of starting XIs by overseas players in The Hundred.
Speaking on Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly podcast, SunRisers Leeds batter Winfield-Hill said: "I've played against some teams and it doesn't sit right."
"... I just feel a bit sad looking around sometimes, even going down to MI for that first game and Tara Norris wasn't playing. She's done really well for London Spirit where she had a role, albeit 10 balls on average [per match], and then she's not playing. That just doesn't sit right. Then obsiouly now Alexa Stonehouse isn't playing, or Alice Davidson-Richards, or Kirstie Gordon. I'm only using MI as this one example, but it's a point across the board.
"Tara Norris, Alice Davidson-Richards, Kirstie Gordon, Katie Levick, they're probably four of the most established, best domestic cricketers in the country, who are either in and out, or don't have very big roles, or are not playing."
Four overseas players are allowed per side in The Hundred, with England players also available for the entire competition. While the same number of overseas players are permitted per side in the WPL, with the additional option of selecting an Associate player, the WBBL only allows three overseas players per side, with more personnel drawn from the domestic game in Australia.
There has also been criticism of how few team captains in this year's tournament are English players, with only three out of eight sides in the women's comptition captained by domestic players.
"You can't really achieve both, and I feel really torn," said Winfield-Hill. "It's only been when I've played against some of the teams and I'm like, you're not playing, this doesn't sit right. And then on the other should I'm going, but we want to be the best comp in the world."
One uncapped domestic player, Marie Kelly, has broken into the top 10 run-scorers in The Hundred so far this year, while overseas players are similarly dominant in the wicket-taking charts. Southern Brave, who have the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues and Australia T20 World Cup winning captain Sophie Molineux on their books, are currently at the top of the points table, with four wins from their first four matches.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
