Women's Ashes to feature five-day Trent Bridge Test

A five-day Test match and white-ball matches at Lord’s and The Oval are highlights of the 2023 Women’s Ashes schedule revealed today by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Australia will seek to keep their grip on the coveted Ashes trophy across the multi-format, points-based series running from June 22 to July 18 next year, which will again comprise one Test, three T20Is and three ODIs.

But in a shift from the norm, the Test – to be played at Trent Bridge – will be staged across five days rather than the four that has been traditional in the women’s game.

All six women’s Tests played since 2015 ended in draws, with sessions or even days lost to poor weather, prompting the shift in approach from the ECB. 

The Test match will be England’s women’s first over five days on home soil. However, women’s Tests in Australia are set to remain at four days, said Peter Roach, Cricket Australia's Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling - although consideration will be given to a reserve day in the event of wet weather.

"We acknowledge that Boards can select four or five days for women’s Test matches," Roach said. 

"At this stage we will continue with four-day Test matches in Australia but may consider a reserve fifth day for Tests significantly affected by the weather."

This is the last time the women's Ashes will be played in the same season as the men's.

The next edition will be staged in Australia in 2025-26, one year before the next men's Ashes Down Under.

While Nottingham’s Trent Bridge holds some dark memories for Australia’s men’s Test team, Australia’s women have never played a red-ball match at the ground, with their only appearance a sole ODI in 1976.

The only women’s Test at the venue was between England and West Indies in 1979 and the last time it hosted a women’s international was during the 2009 T20 World Cup.

The No.1 ranked Australians will find themselves in familiar territory for the first T20I, returning to Edgbaston, where they claimed Commonwealth Games gold last month.

The Oval will host the second T20I; the south London venue has not hosted an international women’s game since the semi-final of the 2009 T20 World Cup, when an Australian side featuring Ellyse Perry was knocked out by eventual champions England.

Australia will then play at Lord’s for the first time since 2013 when the third T20I is held at the Home of Cricket on July 8.

County grounds in Bristol and Taunton will play host to an ODI each; both venues were also used during the 2019 Ashes.

The second one-dayer will be played at Southampton’s Rose Bowl; Australia staged a warm-up camp and played practice games on its outer oval ahead of the 2017 World Cup, but have not played on the main ground since the 2013 Ashes.

Recent women’s Ashes series have typically featured smaller county grounds, including Chelmsford, Leicester and Canterbury, but the 2023 schedule presents a shift towards larger, tier-one venues.

Image Id: DA8E92C990AD469A95C400C3D2E2389C Image Caption: Australia have held the women's Ashes since 2015 // Getty

While it will have been a decade since Australia played at Lord’s or The Rose Bowl, and even longer in the case of The Oval, 10 members of their gold-medal winning Commonwealth Games squad recently had a taste of the conditions at those grounds during The Hundred.

Australia will have a chance to adjust to the local conditions when they play a three-day warm-up game against England A at a yet-to-be-confirmed ground from June 15-17.

The multi-format series will again see four points awarded for victory in the Test, and two points for victory in each of the ODIs and T20Is.

A three-game ODI tour of Ireland will follow the Ashes, with dates and venues yet to be revealed.

Australia have held the Ashes since winning them back on English soil in 2015. 

CommBank Ashes Tour of the UK 2023

Test: June 22-26 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 11am local (7pm AEST)

First T20I: July 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, 6.35pm (3.35am July 2 AEST)

Second T20I: July 5 at The Oval, London, 6.35pm (3.35am July 6 AEST)

Third T20I: July 8 at Lord’s, London, 6.35pm (3.35am July 9 AEST)

First ODI: July 12 at The County Ground, Bristol, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Second ODI: July 16 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, 11am (7pm AEST)

Third ODI: July 18 at The County Ground, Taunton, 1pm (10pm AEST)