Women’s Ashes 2023: how to watch Test cricket match on UK TV - live stream details, dates, times and squad news

The wait is almost over as the Women’s Ashes series gets underway in Nottingham. 14,500 tickets have already been sold for the fixture and this year’s multi-format series is set to be the biggest yet with ticket sales breaking records across the board.

England have not won an Ashes series for a decade but England’s captain Heather Knight is hopeful this will be the year. Ahead of the first game of the series, the batter has said: “A lot of things have to go right for us to beat them. Because they are so good we have to be disrupters, do things differently and try and think outside the box. There is a belief in us as a group we can do that. It is exciting.”

Here is all you need to know ahead of the one-off Test match in the Women’s Ashes series...

When is the Women’s Test match

The five day Test match will start on Thursday 22 June and if all five days are required, the match will conclude on Monday 26 June. The match is scheduled to be played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

This is the first ever time England have played an Ashes Test match and the second time a women’s Test match has ever been played on the ground. England women once played the West Indies women squad in a Test match back in 1979. The match ended in a draw. Remaining tickets for the Test match can be found on the Trent Bridge website with prices varying depending on the day and stand.

How to watch Women’s Ashes Test match

All of the Women’s Ashes content will be available to watch on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event. You can upgrade to the Sky Sports Cricket channel from just £15 per month as part of a limited time deal or pick up the complete sports package from just £24 per month. Sky Sports customers can live stream the Women’s Ashes via the Sky Go app on a variety of devices including most smartphones and tablets as part of their subscription.

You can also watch the Women’s Ashes via NOW without signing up to a contract. NOW can be streamed through a computer or apps found on most smart TVs, phones and consoles. NOW is also available via BT Sport.

Head-to-Head

In their last five series, England have won one Test match, Australia one and the other three have ended in draws. Their most recent Test fixture against each other was played in January 2022 and saw Australia score 337/9 before England fought back to make 297 in their first innings. Australia’s second innings score of 216/7 was, however, not enough as England scored 245/9 before the close of play. Heather Knight was named player of the match after scoring an unbeaten 168 in the first innings and 48 in the second.

Overall, Australia have won seven of the 18 Test matches, England have won four and the rest have been drawn.

Squad news

It is too soon to know who will be in the playing XI for Thursday’s Test match but Australia are without their captain Meg Lanning who was forced to withdraw from the series due to unspecified medical reasons which requires management from back home. Wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy will captain in her absence with all-rounder Tahlia McGrath acting as vice-captain.

England’s Lauren Filer will be earning her first international cap after getting the nod over Issy Wong. Her captain has said of her: “She’s a real impact bowler, I guess she’s a bit of an unknown, but she bowls wicket-takingdeliveries and for me she’s one of the quickest, if not the quickest bowler in the country.”

England squad: Heather Knight (C), Tammy Beaumont, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophia Dunkley, Danielle Wyatt, Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (captain), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.