Even before the men arrive, and the Aussies are already ramping up the pressure on that score, the 2017 Women’s Ashes series gets underway at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Sunday with the first of three one-day internationals – the first games in a seven-match, multi-format contest.
Unlike the men’s Ashes series, which is contested solely in the Test format, there are three ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals between the two women’s sides this Australian summer, with each worth two points for a win and one in the event of a draw. The only Test match is worth four points for a win and two points for a draw.
Women’s Ashes History
England and Australia’s women have contested 21 Ashes series since 1934/35 – it is the oldest rivalry in women’s cricket. Australia have won eight of the contests compared to six for England, while the sides have drawn the series on seven occasions.
This will be the fourth time the Ashes has been contested across three formats of the game using a points system.
England have won the first two, winning 12-4 on home soil in 2013 and 10-8 in Australia at the beginning of 2014, but Australia currently hold the urn after a 10-6 victory in England in 2015. The two sides will make history this year when they contest the first ever day-night Women’s Ashes Test at the North Sydney Oval.
William Hill can’t separate the teams in their Series Betting. Both teams are 11/8 to win with a Drawn series available at 3/1.
Rachael Haynes will stand in for the injured Meg Lanning as Australia’s captain and the 30-year-old Melbourne-born batsman is determined to make the most of her second chance. She played just once for the national side between 2013 and 2017 prior to the World Cup in England in the summer and feels her team has a point to prove having lost in the semi-finals of that tournament.
However, it’s not going to be easy as World Cup winners England are the top-ranked team in both T20 and ODIs at present. In Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Taylor, Heather Knight’s team have players at the top of the order capable of taking any game away from the opposition and seamers Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt fare well in comparison against Aussie counterparts Megan Schutt and Lauren Cheatle. It should be a keenly-fought contest!
