ACT Meteors captain Erin Osborne has called for the WNCL season to be extended, saying an 81-day break between one-day games doesn't foster the growth of women's cricket.
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The Meteors' fifth game of the season came 81 days after their fourth, and now the ACT's season will come to a sudden halt after a sixth.
The Meteors are gearing up for the final match of the season against winless Tasmania at the Kingston Twin Ovals on Sunday.
The Meteors crashed out of title contention at the hands of South Australia despite a player of the match effort from centurion Claire Koski on Saturday.
Osborne says it has been difficult readjusting from Twenty20 mode for one more round of one-day cricket after the WNCL went on hold during the WBBL season, which ran from December 9 until February 4.
"It hasn't been easy that's for sure," Osborne said.
"It's never easy not being able to play consistent one-day cricket at the domestic level but hopefully next year there will be an extra round of WNCL. It would be nice to play a home and away series.
"While I love the Big Bash and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Melbourne Stars, in Twenty20 cricket the nature of the game is if you're batting at five, six or anywhere underneath you're not going to get much of an opportunity. Same with the ball, you're bowling four overs.
"One-day cricket provides more opportunities, especially to the younger girls coming through. It's a chance to work on playing for a longer period of time and taking more responsibility with bat and ball.
"I'd like to see it go to a home and away series but I guess that's something to discuss for the future of women's cricket."
Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson has expressed his desire to see women's cricket continue to "break new ground" with more WNCL matches.
Nicholson says considering the need for female cricketers to play more longer-form cricket is crucial following the success of the one-off Ashes Test.
The ACT played a three-day tour match with a pink ball against Australia in the lead up to the Ashes Test at Manuka Oval in November.
Nicholson is itching to grow women's cricket "across all formats of the game" but Osborne says introducing something in the vein of a three-day competition wouldn't have value until Australia play more Tests.
"More importantly is getting the one-day competition right, I don't think you can push for everything,' Osborne said.
"Australia doesn't play a lot of Test cricket, they play a one-off Test. While it would be nice to play three-day cricket it probably doesn't have a lot of point at this stage.
"There's a 50-over World Cup and Australia continues to compete in the 50-over championship. There's a place for one-day cricket and developing players in that format.
"It would be nice to have more of an opportunity to play more games in that format than worrying about three-dayers."
