England women’s cricket team is gearing up for a grueling multi-format game series in Australia with almost no breathing room, thanks to the Indian Women’s Premier League (WPL) next year.
In just three weeks, England and Australia will face each other in three ODIs, three T20s and a four-day Test match as part of the much-anticipated Women’s Ashes 2025 series.
It’s jam packed schedule England Women’s coach Jon Lewis has sparked controversy after expressing his frustration at the lack of gaps between the Women’s Ashes 2025 matches in Australia.
Jon Lewis expresses concern over packed Women’s Ashes 2025 schedule due to WPL 2025
The reason for this jam-packed schedule has forced the upcoming Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL 2025) in India, forcing Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to push the Women’s Ashes 2025 series.
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The five-match multi-format series between Australia Women and England Women will be played across multiple cities from January 12 in Sydney. However, there is only a four-day gap between the third T20 and the subsequent four-day pink-ball Test in Melbourne, which irked the England Women coach as he felt the players would face a big challenge.
England coach Jon Lewis has stressed that the Women’s Ashes 2025 schedule is not ideal, saying both he and the players would prefer more time between the white-ball games and the one-off Test match. Despite the demands of greater agility, the schedule remains tight, testing players’ physical endurance and mental toughness.
No relief because of WPL and Christmas: England Women coach
The Guardian quoted John Lewis as saying: “My preferences would be to have more space between games and give the players priority too. I’m sure we would have asked for more space between the white ball (games) and the Test match, but the schedule is back to how it was. It won’t be right. The table is quite tight, close together. No flexibility due to WPL and Christmas”.
Meanwhile, the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL2025) will start on February 21, but the players will have to arrive in India earlier for preparation and media duties. Six players from the England Women’s Ashes team will take part in the five-team WPL 2025 tournament from February to March next year.
Six England players from the Ashes squad are taking part in WPL 2025
These England Women players who will play in WPL 2025 are Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Dani Gibson. Note that the ECB has announced the squad for the upcoming Women’s Ashes 2025. , Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Bess Heath.
The highly anticipated Women’s Ashes 2025 will begin with the first ODI starting on January 11 at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney. The second ODI will be played at Junction Oval in Melbourne on January 13 and the final ODI will be played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on January 16.
After the ODI series, England and Australia will face each other in the T20I series. The first T20I will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 20, while the second T20I will be played at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on January 23. The final T20I will be played at the Adelaide Oval on January 25. The one-off Test match will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from February 2.
