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

Ten open men’s divisions and six open women’s divisions will feature, with up to 75 teams set to compete for 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.

Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Game and Market Development, Andrew Ingleton, said:

“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.

“It’s great to be joining forces with Beastwear, who have signed on as the major partner of the NICL for two seasons. We look forward to a successful partnership with them.”

The 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.

The women’s divisions will include: New South Wales, 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 1 September to 3 September.

A National Match of the Day will be live-streamed on each Sunday during the competition, starting on 23 April.

This will include one women’s match and one men’s match from 6.15pm AEST, live and free to watch through the Cricket Australia Indoor Facebook Page and a new tournament website, www.nicl.com.au, which will go live later this week.