The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury will play host to an Ashes Test match in 2015 with England Women to face Australia at the home of Kent Cricket.
The game will be staged in what will become an extended 164th Canterbury Week and will be shown live on Sky Sports for the first time.
With the touring Australian men’s side also to play Kent earlier in the summer, the hosting of the first ever Test match at Canterbury represents a major coup for Kent Cricket.
The game will take place between August 11th and 15th with fans set to see some exciting cricket with many Kent stars expected to form part of the England line up including Charlotte Edwards, Lydia Greenway and Tammy Beaumont.
Kent and England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards, playing in Australia for Western Fury this winter, said: “It’s brilliant news that The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence will host the Women’s Ashes Kia Test Match.”
“The Test match has proved instrumental in recent series, so I hope that we can take advantage of the excellent wicket at Canterbury to secure the four points up for grabs.”
“It’s also brilliant that the match will be played as part of an extended Canterbury Cricket Week, which I am sure will generate crowds and an exciting atmosphere.”
The county will welcome the Australian men’s side in June for the opening fixture of the 2015 Ashes Tour and the club believes the Ashes Test will be a further catalyst for the women’s game with Kent Cricket CEO Jamie Clifford saying:
“We are delighted to host the only Women’s Ashes Kia Test of the summer. I’m sure it will be as keenly contested as the men’s series.”
“With the Australian men playing Kent at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in June and the women’s side visiting in August – it promises to be a memorable summer for Kent Cricket.”
“We have a proud tradition in women’s cricket and we hope the Women’s Ashes fixtures will encourage more girls to play the game.”
Entry to both Australia matches in Canterbury are included in Kent All Rounder and Championship Plus Memberships and an option for Six Pack package holders.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today released the schedule for the 2015 Women’s Ashes Series and announced that for the first time, Sky Sports will provide live television coverage of every ball in the seven match multi-format contest.
The 2015 Series will be the third time that the Women’s Ashes have been contested across all three formats of the game – one Test match, three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals – and following a review of the first two encounters by the ECB and Cricket Australia, the number of points awarded for winning the Test match will be reduced from six to four. Two points will still be awarded to each side in the event of a drawn Test, and the ODIs and T20Is will still be worth two points each for a win.
Next summer’s Women’s Ashes Series will get underway on July 21 with the first Royal London ODI at the County Ground in Taunton. The players will then make the short journey across the Somerset-Gloucestershire border for the second Royal London ODI at the Bristol County Ground on July 23, before the third and final 50-over match is played at Worcestershire’s New Road on July 26.
In addition to six Women’s Ashes points being up for grabs, the three Royal London ODIs will carry additional significance for both teams, as they will comprise England and Australia’s third round of fixtures in the new ICC Women’s Championship.
Following the Royal London ODIs, Kent and England women’s captain, Charlotte Edwards, will get the opportunity to lead England in front of a home crowd during an extended 164th Canterbury Cricket Week, when Kent CCC’s Spitfire Ground hosts the single Women’s Ashes Kia Test match from Tuesday 11 to Friday 14 August.
The Essex County Ground, the BrightonandHoveJobs.com County Ground and the SWALEC Stadium will stage the three Women’s Ashes NatWest T20Is on August 26, 28 and 31, with the third match in Cardiff being played immediately before the men’s NatWest T20I between England and Australia.
Prior to the NatWest T20Is, Australia women will travel to Ireland to play a three-match T20I series on August 19, 21 and 22.
ECB’s Head of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said: “It has already been a remarkable year of firsts for England women’s cricket – the first crop of 18 players to receive professional contracts, alongside a first standalone commercial sponsorship deal with Kia. We are now delighted to report that Sky Sports will provide live coverage of every ball of the multi-format Women’s Ashes next year and in so doing, will cover a women’s Test match for the very first time.
“The level of broadcast coverage that the England women’s team now gets is exceptional, and I am thrilled that the ECB, in partnership with Sky Sports and BBC Radio, continues to lead the way in this respect within international women’s team sport. It is this level of exposure and support that will ensure that the women’s game continues to grow, and that will inspire the next generation of England women’s cricketers.
“It is also wonderful that Charlotte Edwards will have the opportunity to lead the England team in the Women’s Ashes Kia Test match in front of a home Kent crowd during an extended Canterbury Cricket Week in August. The points awarded for winning that match have been reduced from six to four, and the Test will be played in the middle of the multi-format Series for the first time. These are moves to help improve the balance of the competition and to ensure maximum interest across the three formats throughout the summer.”
Bryan Henderson, Executive Producer of Sky Sports Cricket, added: “Sky Sports has supported women’s cricket for over 18 years, and we look forward to taking our coverage to the next level as we show a women’s Test match for the first time. Our viewers will be able to enjoy every ball and every minute of action as England women compete to retain the Ashes next summer.
“We have a strong and successful partnership with the ECB and are proud to have played our small part in the growth of the women’s game over the last two decades.”
England will be hoping to emulate their performances from the first two multi-format Women’s Ashes contests, having won twelve points to four on home soil in 2013 and ten points to eight Down Under at the start of this year.
To listen to our exclusive interviews with Lydia Greenway and Jamie Clifford, click here: