After years of incredible achievement, the Australian women’s cricket team is rightly considered one of the world’s great sporting teams.
The inspirational deeds of superstars such as skipper Alyssa Healy, champion batter Ellyse Perry and brilliant allrounder Ash Gardner have inspired thousands of kids to take up the game while raising the bar for the nations who strive to compete with them.
This is a team that not only deserves the greatest accolades, but also the greatest venues in which to showcase their vast ability. Accordingly, this summer the Aussie women will shine in some our nation’s most iconic venues during the CommBank Women’s Ashes series.
The multiformat series ensures Australia and England will be tested over three T20s, three one day internationals and one Test match. It is a format that ensure the big-hitting of the white ball game is
balanced against the patience and guile required to triumph over the four-day Test.
So, Healy’s bludgeoning style at the top of the order and the endurance of the game’s new sensation Annabel Sutherland, whose double century against South Africa was one of the highlights of last season,
will be equally valuable.
Australia retained the Women’s Ashes in England in 2023, but the home team put up a mighty struggle. Australia won the Test match and the opening T20 only for England to rally winning four of the next five games to split the points.
This sets the stage for a memorable return series with England under brilliant skipper Heather Knight and her ballistic deputy Nat Sciver-Brunt determined to wrest the trophy back from Australia for the first time since 2013-14.
During what promises to be a fiercely contest series there will be three stand-out stadium games with T20s at picturesque Adelaide Oval and the historic SCG and the series concluding with the first ever day-night Test at the MCG.
For the players, that means the chance to perform at the best possible venues in front of big crowds. For fans, there is the chance to witness world class sport with all the brilliant features, vantage points and Premium Experiences those wonderful stadiums provide.
The MCG Test has historic significance. This summer will be the 90th anniversary of the first women’s Test series played between Australia and England which included a match at the MCG. There has only been one other women’s Test played at the ground in 1949 and this is a fitting return.
Taking a stroll or catching a tram down from the city to the MCG to see Australia and England’s best battle for one of cricket’s great prizes on a summer’s evening will be a treat for sports lovers and a wonderful culmination to a fantastic series.