England captain welcomes ‘special’ first women’s five-day Test

LONDON, AFP: England women’s cricket captain Heather Knight welcomed yesterday the news that her side will play a five-day Ashes Test at Trent Bridge next year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia have agreed to cast aside the longstanding convention that has restricted the women’s Test matches to four-day affairs in 2023.

Just six women’s Tests have taken place worldwide in the last five years, all finishing in draws after time ran out, but now the marquee event of the multi-format series will have three additional sessions to reach a more fitting conclusion.

The move brings parity with a men’s Ashes program announced at the same time. The women’s Test begins on 22 June, two days after the conclusion of the men’s Edgbaston opener against Australia, and represents a first in England.

And Knight, whose side will also play T20s at the Oval, Edgbaston and Lord’s for the first time, offered a ringing endorsement.

“I’m so happy, I feel like I’ve been banging the drum for five days for a long time, so it’s a special moment,” she told Britain’s PA news agency.

“It feels like the right time, for five days, for bigger grounds, and it feels like it’s been a long time coming. Last year’s South Africa Test was set up nicely but withered out because of rain and it wasn’t given the chance to finish, so this is a really good step by the boards.

“I probably spent most of my career being grateful for what you’re given. When I started out anything was a bonus, you were just happy to be playing the sport you love for England and not even getting paid, but my eyes have opened a bit more.

“You see the inequalities you’ve gone through and not really realised. Moving forward on an equal footing is a logical progression.” Greg Barclay, chair of the International Cricket Council, said during a trip to Lord’s in June that he did not believe Tests formed “part of the landscape” in the women’s game and could not see the format “evolving”.