England Women’s Ashes Test against Australia next year will be held in Canterbury, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced upon releasing the schedule for the series.
Sandwiched by three one-day internationals and three T20 matches, the Spitfire Ground will stage the solitary Test of the 2015 series, which, for the third time, will be contested across the three formats.
The series begins with the first ODI at Taunton on 21 July before subsequent matches at Bristol and Worcester and, as was the case for the 2013-14 edition, won by England, two points will be available for the winner of each.
For the Test, the points on offer have been reduced from six to four while there are two points available for each of the three T20 matches, held at Chelmsford, Hove and the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff, which brings an end to the series on 31 August.
Upon announcing the schedule, the ECB also confirmed that Sky Sports will provide coverage of all seven matches for the first time and the ECB’s head of England Women’s cricket, Clare Connor, said: “It has already been a remarkable year of firsts for England women’s cricket – the first crop of 18 players to receive professional contracts, alongside a first standalone commercial sponsorship deal with Kia. We are now delighted to report that Sky Sports will provide live coverage of every ball of the multi-format Women’s Ashes next year and in so doing, will cover a women’s Test match for the very first time.
“The points awarded for winning that match have been reduced from six to four, and the Test will be played in the middle of the multi-format Series for the first time. These are moves to help improve the balance of the competition and to ensure maximum interest across the three formats throughout the summer.”
England have won the last two Ashes series and five of the last six but Australia remain ahead in the overall standings with seven victories, one more than their counterparts.
