Cricket Australia (CA) has joined the England Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council (ICC) in refusing to endorse a proposed women's version of the IPL Twenty20 tournament.
Former Australian allrounder Lisa Sthalekar and local businessman Shaun Martyn are behind the Women's International Cricket League (WICL) concept which is striving for the world's best female cricketers to earn up to $40,000 to participate in a 15-day tournament.
However, the proposal has suffered a major setback, with women's cricket heavyweights Australia and England as well as the game's governing body distancing themselves from the idea.
CA and the England Cricket Board (ECB) are concerned about its financial viability and believe the concept isn't anywhere near as developed as has been publicised.
Instead, CA is pushing forward with a plan to introduce a women's Big Bash League for the 2015-16 summer.
CA high performance manager Pat Howard said the body supported professional women's cricket but not in the form proposed by the WICL.
"In relation to comments by the Women's ICL, CA has not endorsed the competition in any way," Howard said in a statement.
"The proposed Women's International Cricket League has also recently been discussed by the International Cricket Council and its members, and was not supported.
"However, we are highly committed to developing female cricket at all levels of the game.
"We are working hard to professionalise the women's game and last year's restructuring of the contracting system for female international and state cricketers has seen our elite players become some of the best-paid female athletes in the country.
"We are continuing to provide our elite players with further opportunities. This includes developing a model for a women's T20 Big Bash League, which is seen as an important step in further professionalising women's cricket."
The ECB slammed the proposal and instead said it would put its faith in the new ICC International Women's Championship, a one-day tournament which will lead to qualification for the 2017 World Cup.
"There has been a lot of misleading and as yet unsubstantiated information around how far advanced the proposed WICL is," said Clare Connor, the ECB's head of women's cricket, in a board statement issued on Wednesday.
Sthalekar and Martyn's proposal centres on six corporately owned teams, featuring the best 78 players to compete in a tournament about 15 days long.
It's hoped the inaugural tournament will be held in Singapore, but the goal is for the event to not be locked in to any one location.
WICL organisers said in a statement that they will continue to push forward for what they believe is the good of the women's game.
"WICL is disappointed not only for the players as they are being potentially denied a great opportunity. But also for all the female coaches, commentators, medical staff and administrative personnel that we seek to create opportunity for," the statement read.
"We will continue to work with key stakeholders in an effort to provide all women with the same opportunities as their male counterparts and the right to choose how they plan and develop their careers."
