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NEW DELHI: Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner has called for more Test matches in the women’s Ashes series, suggesting that the multi-format series be expanded to nine matches, including three T20s, three ODIs, and three Tests.
Since 2013, the women’s Ashes has been determined using a points system in a multi-format series that includes three T20s, three ODIs, and a single Test match. Two points are awarded for white-ball games, while the Test winner earns four, with points shared in the event of draws, ties, or abandoned matches.
However, such a change may not happen before the next Future Tours Programme cycle, which runs from 2025 to 2029.
“That’s a bit of a hot topic at the moment. Everyone’s going to have their own individual point of view on that. It would be quite tough just with how busy our summers are. But personally, I would love to see three, three, three,” Gardner told reporters, as quoted by Fox Cricket.
“It’s obviously going to make the tours a lot longer. I’m not sure where you’re going to fit it in, knowing that we obviously have to play overseas competitions as well. It would be interesting to see over the next four to five years where that gets to.
“I would love to play more Test cricket against England. Playing the one Test feels like a bit of a novelty sometimes. The way that our two teams match up, it would be a really cool Test series to see who would come out on top for that. But I don’t think that’s probably going to change anytime soon.”
England opener Tammy Beaumont echoed Gardner’s support for the “three, three, three” format. “I completely agree with Ash … I’d love to see it. The best thing about the Ashes is the narrative, the rivalry, how it builds over time. You saw in the India and Australia men’s Test series, that the narratives build in a five-match series, even in a three-match series.
“As an opening batter, that’s part of why you love the game, that battle of trying to maybe get one up on an opening bowler, and I think it builds even more in Test cricket. That’s why I love getting the whites on,” Beaumont said.
However, outgoing Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley acknowledged that incorporating more Test matches into the current schedule would be challenging, given the packed calendar in the next FTP cycle, which features annual windows for the Women’s Big Bash League in November, The Hundred in August, and the Women’s Premier League in January.
“I think the space in the calendar is a real challenge. For the next period, there’s not too much space in the calendar. It’s all really well set. I think for the next little period, it’s just really trying to find space,” Hockley told reporters at the SCG on Wednesday.
“What I’d like to see is more countries to play multi-format series. I think it’s a fantastic format … it gives context within series,” he said.
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