The new Kia Super League can be a driving force in the international growth of women's cricket, according to two of its highest-profile players.
Former England captain Charlotte Edwards will link up again with New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates, her close friend and Big Bash League team-mate.
And while the Southern Vipers pair hope to at least emulate their Perth Scorchers' semi-final run, their aspirations extend further.
Six teams will compete in Twenty20 action between July 30 and August 21 this year, before a 50-over component is added to the competition next summer ahead of the Women's World Cup in England and Wales.
Edwards told Press Association Sport: "We've learnt over a period of time that the T20 format is the best way to promote the game and I think this is a great opportunity to do that again.
"I think it's a great way to attract people to watch - we want it to be an energetic and dynamic game which hopefully attracts young girls to play.
"It's going to be a 50-over comp before the World Cup next summer and the T20 afterwards, so it's exciting times."
While women's World Cup and World T20 events have proved successful, Edwards' 309 international appearances before retirement included only 23 Tests, while all of Bates' 167 internationals since her 2006 debut have come in limited-overs formats.
"As a New Zealand player, I've been in the team for 10 years now and we haven't played a Test match," said the latter.
"I've always been an advocate for playing longer-format cricket - it's called Test cricket because it is where you're tested the most as a player - but I do understand, with a busy schedule, why it's not a priority.
"Twenty20, for women's cricket, has taken the game so far in terms of creating that spectacle and promoting it, and I think it'll filter back into our 50-over cricket.
"With the World Cup, I think it'll make for more exciting cricket and bigger scores because we're playing so much Twenty20 now.
"Just like the men's game, from Twenty20 and 50-over cricket, we've seen the change there with how teams approach Test cricket. I think it would be the same for the girls and become more of a spectacle."
England and Australia have dominated the international game but Bates' White Ferns, along with South Africa and the West Indies, are narrowing the gap and the WSL provides a further boost.
"New Zealand had six players in the Big Bash League and our team's gone from strength to strength, with our top players getting exposure to competitive cricket and pressure situations," she said.
"So I think it'll strengthen South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand and hopefully we can keep competing with England and Australia, who've been top dogs for a while now.
"I think everyone agrees if we can have six to eight teams worldwide competing regularly, it's going to be good for the women's game."
While many WBBL matches were staged as double-headers with games in the men's competition, Super League matches will be stand-alone events.
And Bates said: "I guess (a double-header) has its advantages and disadvantages, you get to play at some of the main grounds and get the fans in towards the end of the game.
"With this competition, hopefully we'll be creating our own fanbase and on some of the smaller grounds we can fill it out, get lots of girls down to the ground, rather than always piggy-backing off the men."
Edwards added: "I think it's great that we've got stand-alone games here; you'll probably get a good gauge of where the women's game's at from the crowds we're hopefully going to attract."
Source: PA
