While the national capital was overlooked for a team in the women's Twenty20 tournament, with Cricket Australia having each side aligned with a men's side, the ACT Meteors will be strongly represented when the competition gets underway on Saturday.

Eleven Meteors players have been signed up by WBBL clubs, with another three on standby in case of injury during the six-week tournament.

Naturally, the biggest chunk of those are with our closest neighbours in Sydney.

The Sixers have four Meteors players on their books, with Sara Hungerford, Angela Reakes, Jodie Hicks and Kiwi international Sara McGlashan donning the magenta this season.

Across town, Southern Stars all-rounder Erin Osborne, wicket-keeper Claire Koski and emerging spinner Sam Bates will be representing the Thunder.

Meteors captain Kris Britt and Jenny Taffs have been snapped by the Melbourne Renegades, while explosive opening batter Katie Mack and Lily Bardsley are with the Melbourne Stars.

The Meteors are coming off an impressive season in the Women's National Cricket League where they won three of their six games, including a sensational victory against the eventual champions, South Australia.

Cricket ACT chief executive Cameron French said having so many Meteors players in the WBBL was a reflection of the strength of the program.

"One of the real transitional things that happened this year was that a lot of the girls are relocating to Canberra to train so we've been able to accelerate their development quickly," French said.

"We're developing some excellent cricketers and our system is working effectively.

"The first part is we can develop individualised training programs, so in terms of doing their strength and conditioning, tailored coaching programs, having that real focus on developing them as an individual.

"From a culture perspective, having them all based here and living here allows you to create that team environment whereas in the past they have been travelling down the highway from Sydney."

The Thunder sees Canberra as part of its catchment area, holding clinics for juniors and selecting ACT under-19 representative Mac Wright as a rookie player.

Thunder general manager Nick Cummins said that meant having a close alignment with the Meteors.

"In everything we've been doing since I've been at the Thunder, I've been working to try and make the team more reflective of the area we represent," Cummins said.

"That takes time.

"We always have to make sure we sign players on the basis of the best player first and making sure their regions align.

"There are lots of good players, so where all things are equal, we'll always try and sign someone from our region."

However, Cummins said himself and Sixers general manager Dominic Redmond were careful to have an even spread of talent between the two clubs.

They wanted to avoid what has happened in the men's Big Bash League, where the Sixers are among the top sides with the Thunder struggling down the bottom of the table.

"We were determined to make sure we didn't have the imbalance of the BBL, where the Sixers were the all-star team and the Thunder were the best of the rest," Cummins said.

"We wanted to make sure we had two evenly-balanced teams and so that did mean the spread of talent was more even and that included ACT talent.

"We didn't want to create a super team."

The WBBL kicks off on Saturday with the Melbourne Stars hosting the Brisbane Heat in a double-header at the Junction Oval.

The Sydney Thunder take on cross-town rivals the Sydney Sixers in Penrith on Sunday.

ACT Meteors players in WBBL

Melbourne Renegades: Kris Britt, Jenny Taffs

Melbourne Stars: Katie Mack, Lily Bardsley

Sydney Thunder: Erin Osborne, Claire Koski, Sam Bates

Sydney Sixers: Sara Hungerford, Angela Reakes, Jodie Hicks, Sara McGlashan

Supplementary players: Kira Churchland, Nicole Goodwin and Leah Tahuhu (international supplementary player).