Past and present England and Australia players have voiced their call for more Test matches to be included in women's Ashes series' ahead of the 2025 edition.
Tammy Beaumont and Ash Gardner both voiced their support for more Test matches to be part of the multi-format series on Wednesday (January 8). The current format comprises of three ODIs and three T20Is, with each white-ball match being worth two points each. The one-off Test match, which will be played after the two limited over series in the upcoming edition, is worth four points.
"I'd love to see three matches of each format," said Beaumont, who is part of England's ODI and Test squads in Australia. "The best thing about the Ashes is the narrative and the rivalries that build over a period of time. That's what you love about being an opener, trying to get one up on a bowler and Test cricket allows for that more often. I love pulling the whites on whenever we get the opportunity, so I'll always want to play more of it."
England played their first Test in a year against South Africa last month, completing their first win in the format for a decade. After the Ashes Test, which will be held at the MCG, they will not play another red-ball game until 2026, when they will host India at Lord's. Australia last played a Test in February 2024, but have played three in the last 18 months. They will have a 12-month break from the format after the Ashes Test, before playing India and West Indies in the format in 2026.
"From a workload point of view, it would be tricky to fit it [more Ashes Tests] in with out busy summers, but I would love to see three of each," said Gardner, who will play her seventh Test if selected for the marquee MCG match. "Our two teams match up really well, we've had some really good matches against England in white-ball cricket. It would be cool to see that over a Test series because sometimes the one-off match can feel like a bit of a novelty."
Speaking on the Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly, former England opener Lauren Winfield-Hill also backed more Tests being played in women's Ashes series'.
🗣️ "Three Test matches, three ODIs, three T20Is. Let's go to war." 🛡️
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 3, 2025
Does the structure of the Women's Ashes need an update? Lauren Winfield-Hill explains how she'd revamp it 🇦🇺🏴
🤝 @Metro_Bank pic.twitter.com/3Turf3sjyo
"Make it longer, make it three, three, three - I think that would be great," said Winfield-Hill, who played in three Ashes series from 2015-2022. "It would be long but my gosh, if you look at the things that we've spoken about, the narrative playing out, it is blood, sweat and tears over a long period of time. You can do it where every format is like a series. The Test match still feels like, 'we'll throw that in there because it's tradition'.
"Three Test matches, three ODIs, three T20s, let's go to war. It makes it longer but it's so different to anything else you'll play and that's what you want to create. You can't forget that both teams have just come off the back of a T20 World Cup and, whether you like it or not, the WPL is coming up and that is as important as international cricket nowadays, and it's sort of wedged in the middle of these two really important things in the calendar. Whereas if the vision and the purpose is heritage, hell for leather go for battle, I think that would be cool.
"That narrative and that storytelling and imagine drawing it out even longer with the media circus it just makes it red hot. Ten years ago was my first Ashes, and not a lot has changed, which is crazy when you think of the evolution of the game around that."
The 2025 series will begin on January 12, with the first ODI at the North Sydney Oval.
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