Women's Ashes T20Is: All you need to know

T20I series facts 

Schedule

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.15pm AEDT

 

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.15pm AEDT

 

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 6.45pm ACDT (7.15pm AEDT)

How to watch or listen in Australia: Channel 7, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports, ABC radio, Triple M

How to watch or listen in the UK: TNT or BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Live scores: Match Centre

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Tickets: Ticketek 

The state of play

Australia were tested at times but ultimately swept the three ODIs to take a 6-0 lead heading into the T20Is.

They need just two more points to retain the Ashes, while England will need to win all three T20Is and the day-night Test at the MCG if they are to reclaim the trophy.

The squads

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Grace Harris is the only addition to the group that featured in the ODI leg, as she rejoins the Australian touring party. There is one new face from the squad that played in the T20 World Cup in October, with Georgia Voll named in her first T20I squad, while the injured Tayla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux are unavailable.

England: Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Dani Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England welcome Dani Gibson, Bess Heath, Freya Kemp and Linsey Smith into their squad for the T20Is, while ODI squad members Tammy Beaumont and Kate Cross will now turn their attention to the day-night Test. Allrounder Kemp offers an exciting point of different as a left-arm quick, while Smith adds a second left-arm spin option to the T20I side.

Form Guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, T: Tie   

Australia: LWWWWWWWWW

Australia's last T20I was their shock World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa, and they have not played in the shortest format since that match in Dubai.

Prior to that, Australia had won 11 straight games in the shortest format, and dropped just one other T20I in 2024 - also to South Africa, on home soil in February.

England: WWWLWWWLWW

England failed to make it out of the group stage of the T20 World Cup when they lost their final round match to West Indies. They had looked in fine form heading into that game, winning their first three matches of the tournament, but missed out on the semi-finals on net run rate.   

But Heather Knight's side responded with a 3-0 series win over World Cup runners-up South Africa in late November, and overall they only lost three T20Is in 2024. 

Last time they met

England kept their Ashes hopes alive when they defeated Australia by five wickets (DLS) in the third T20I at Lord's in mid-2023. 

Put into bat by Heather Knight, Ellyse Perry was the top scorer with a 25-ball 34 as Australia posted 7-155 from their 20 overs in front of more than 20,000 people at the iconic ground.

Rain saw the England given a revised target of 119 from 14 overs and Alice Capsey hammered 46 from 23 balls to set up England's chase. The home side ultimately got home with four balls to spare.

Head-to-head in T20Is

Local knowledge

The forecast

Sydney is set to be a moderate 25 degrees Celsius for the series opener on Monday and while some showers are forecast for the morning, it is currently expected to be dry when the first ball is bowled in the evening.

Similar conditions on the longer-range forecast are tipped for both Canberra on January 23 and Adelaide on the 25th.

Rapid stats

• England defeated Australia 2-1 when they last met in a multigame bilateral T20I series in July 2023; they last won consecutive series against Australia in the format from August 2015 (2-1) to November 2017 (2-1).
  
  
• This will be the first women's T20I between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
  
  
• Australia lost their most recent T20I by eight wickets, to South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, snapping an 11-match winning run in the format.
  
  
• England are undefeated in their last six multi-game bilateral women's T20I series (W5 D1); their last series loss in the format was a 1-2 defeat against Sri Lanka in September 2023.
  
  
• Australia recorded a bowling economy rate of 5.3 at the 2024 T20 World Cup, the best of any team; in addition, their bowling average (14.5) was the second best of any team in the campaign behind New Zealand.
  
  
• England have scored at least 65 per cent of their runs from boundaries in each of their last two T20I innings; they had done so only twice across their 32 innings in the format prior to that span.
  
  
• Batters played a false shot on 44.3 per cent of Megan Schutt's 106 balls bowled at the 2024 World Cup, the second-best rate (min. 45 balls bowled) of any player in the tournament behind West Indies' Chinelle Henry.
  
  
• Nat Sciver-Brunt (16) is one away from surpassing Sarah Taylor (16) for the outright second most scores of 50+ for England in women's T20Is, behind Danni Wyatt-Hodge's 20); she's scored 45+ in each of her last four T20I innings (48*, 57*, 59, 67*).
  
  
• Heather Knight (93) is one away from surpassing Charlotte Edwards (93) for the outright most appearances as captain of England in women's T20Is; only Harmanpreet Kaur (123 for India), Meg Lanning (100 for Australia) and Chamari Athapaththu (97 for Sri Lanka) have logged more overall in the history of the format.

How does the multi-format system work?

Unlike the men's Ashes, the women's Ashes are a multi-format, points-based series featuring three ODIs, three T20Is and one Test. The team with the most points at the end of the series is awarded the trophy. An ODI or T20I win earns two points, a loss none and a tie, no result or abandoned match will earn a single point. There are four points on offer for the Test, with each team awarded two if there's a draw.

Australia are the current holders of the Ashes having regained them on English soil in 2015, then retained them at home two years later. The last time they met in mid-2023, Australia took an early 6-0 lead before England came home with a wet sail to tie the series 8-8. It was enough to the Aussies to retain the trophy, but they were left frustrated that they could not complete an outright series win.

You can find out more about the women's Ashes trophy and how it was created HERE 

Have the women's Ashes always used a points system?

The points system has been in place since 2013, with England winning the first two editions Test matches between the two countries before Australia bounced back in 2015, while points were split in 2017. Australia won the 2019 and 2022 series outright, while the most recent edition in 2023 was tied. Prior to that, the Ashes were determined solely on the outcomes of Test matches.

Commbank Women's Ashes 2025

Australia lead the multi-format series 6-0

First ODI: Australia won by four wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by 21 runs

Third ODI: Australia won by 86 runs

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.15pm AEDT

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.15pm AEDT

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 6.45pm ACDT (7.15pm AEDT)

Australia squad (ODI/T20Is): Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris+, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England squad (ODI/T20Is): Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont*, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross*, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson+, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath+, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp+, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith+, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

* ODIs only; + T20Is only

Day-night Test: January 30 - February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: TBC

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

The rivalry resumes with a blockbuster series in Australia from Jan 12 - Feb 2. Learn about the remarkable 90-year history at the Women's Ashes Hub