Day-night MCG Test to headline packed women's summer

The MCG will host a blockbuster women’s Ashes day-night Test next summer, as the multi-format series heads to Australia’s biggest venues for the first time. 

Cricket Australia today released the women’s international schedule for 2024-25, which includes an Ashes series that will be played in a separate season to the men’s edition for the first time since the points-based system came into use. 

White-ball tours against New Zealand and India are also on the calendar, with all six states plus the ACT hosting women’s internationals. 

But the main event is the Ashes, which will largely be played inside the school holiday period and will begin with the ODI leg starting at North Sydney Oval on January 12, followed by games at CitiPower Centre and Blundstone Arena on January 14 and 17.  

The action will then return to Sydney for the first of three T20Is, to be played at the SCG on January 20, followed by matches at Manuka Oval and Adelaide Oval on January 23 and 25 respectively. 

The series will then culminate with a four-day pink-ball Test at the MCG from January 30 to February 2, which will be a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the first women’s Test. 

The Ashes pink-ball game will be the first women’s Test played at the MCG since 1949, and will be the second day-night Test between Australia and England’s women, following the pink-ball game at North Sydney Oval in 2017. 

It will also herald Australia’s first visit back to the iconic ground since they defeated India in front of 86,174 fans in the 2020 T20 World Cup final. 

The T20 opener will be the first women’s international at the SCG since the semi-final of that tournament. 

Speaking to media on Tuesday, Cricket Australia's head of cricket operations and scheduling Peter Roach said taking the Ashes to some of the country’s largest venues was the next step in the progression of the women’s game. 

"What we're looking to do is to really keep pushing to get our women (playing) on the major venues where possible," Roach said.  

"This is an opportunity against England just to keep that momentum going and challenge ourselves to grow crowds above what the expectations are around the community.  

"We know we're going to get great support from the MCC and the Victorian Government around this match and we will expect fans to be really supportive of coming along to that game ... and it will hopefully be a fitting conclusion to a tight series." 

The England and Wales Cricket Board hosted a five-day women’s Test in Nottingham last June, but Roach said four days, with 100 overs bowled per day, remained the preferred option for CA. 

"There are continuing discussions on the right format for women's Test cricket ... we were really strongly of the view that four days is the right format and in the very recent past we have seen Test matches finish in four days," he said.  

"We're seeing that fifth day (of) men's cricket in Australia be not utilised very much." 

Australia’s players were full of praise for the pitch provided by the WACA Ground for their Test against South Africa last month, which saw the hosts wrap up victory inside three days. 

CA believes the MCG’s recent Boxing Day surfaces, which were rated by the ICC as "very good" for the past two Tests, are a strong indication the venue will be a fitting stage for the blockbuster game. 

CA has also confirmed the schedules for September’s three-game T20I series against New Zealand and December’s three ODIs against India. 

The series against the White Ferns was not originally part of the Future Tours Program, but has been added in to serve as preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh immediately afterward. It will be Australia’s next engagement once their ongoing bilateral tour of Bangladesh wraps up.  

The time of year means the three-game series will be played entirely in Queensland, with two games at Mackay’s Great Barrier Reef Arena on September 19 and 22, followed by a series finale at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field on September 24. 

AB Field will also host the first two one-dayers against India on December 5 and 8, before the teams head west to end the series at the WACA Ground on December 11. 

The ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship, with points contributing towards qualification for the 2025 ODI World Cup in India. 

The series against New Zealand, India and England form part of a jam-packed season for Australia’s women, who will also defend their T20 World Cup crown in Bangladesh in September and October, before returning home for Weber WBBL|10. 

The India series will begin almost immediately after the Big Bash and will be followed by a three-game ODI series in New Zealand, also part of the Women’s Championship, prior to Christmas.   

Following the Ashes, Australia will make a second trip to New Zealand at the end of the 2024-25 summer for three T20Is.  

Australia's 2024-25 International women’s schedule

CommBank Women's T20I Series v New Zealand 

First T20I | September 19: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (N) 

 

Second T20I | September 22: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (N) 

 

Third T20I | September 24: Allan Border Field, Brisbane (N) 

T20 World Cup in Bangladesh 

September-October | Dates TBC 

CommBank Women's ODI Series v India 

First ODI | December 5: Allan Border Field, Brisbane (D/N) 

 

Second ODI | December 8: Allan Border Field, Brisbane (D) 

 

Third ODI | December 11: WACA Ground, Perth (D/N) 

Commbank ODI Tour of New Zealand  

December | Dates TBC 

CommBank Women's Ashes Series v England 

First ODI | January 12: North Sydney Oval, Sydney (D) 

 

Second ODI | January 14: CitiPower Centre, Melbourne (D) 

 

Third ODI | January 17: Bellerive Oval, Hobart (D) 

 

First T20I | January 20: SCG, Sydney (N) 

 

Second T20I | January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra (N) 

 

Third T20I | January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (N) 

 

Day-Night Test | January 30 - February 2: MCG, Melbourne (D/N) 

Commbank T20I Tour of New Zealand  

March | Dates TBC

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