Women's Ashes 2022: Australia vs England T20 - date, UK start time, team news and how to watch first match

England’s women are just two days away from participating in their first match of the 2022 Ashes series.

Their last series came in 2019 when Australia were able to come away with a triumphant win which included an ODI series win of 3-0, a T20 series win of 2-1 and a Test draw.

On the back of the England men’s disastrous tour down under, fans and the women’s cricketers will be desperate to salvage some hope and grace and will look to make a decisive start as they take on the Australians.

Heather Knight, one of England’s most successful female cricketers, will lead her women into battle for the multi-format series

Here is all you need to know ahead of their first T20 fixture…

What has been said ahead of the series?

Knight has recently spoken about how difficult the training conditions have been for England’s women and has admitted to parts of it being ‘comical’.

The players have been living under restrictions both in Australia and before they travelled in order to reduce the chance of getting COVID-19.

Immediately after the tournament, the players will then travel to compete in the World Cup in New Zealand, which has meant that the England vs Australia Women’s Ashes series was pushed forward a week in order for both teams to quarantine before travelling across.

Knight spoke to the press over the weekend saying: “We’ve been living pretty much isolated in our households since Christmas and a little bit before. This isn’t the start of the restrictions for us. It’s been going for a little bit of a while.

“Two weeks before we let England we could only train as individuals and with our households so we’ve had mums feeding bowling machines, boyfriends and girlfriends slinging, dads batting and any family member or households supporting our training.

“As you can imagine, it’s been pretty comical but also not ideal preparation for a series of this magnitude.

“Previously we thought the Test was going to be first and we would have had a good build-up.

“It’s an Ashes series and a World Cup and as a captain I want my best team as much as possible but, being realistic, with certain players we might have to fiddle it a little bit and look at potentially where they can get a bit of breathing space.”

When is the first match in the women’s Ashes series?

Heather Knight and Meg Lanning will bring their squads together on Thursday 20 January 2022 for the first match of the 2022 Ashes series.

The match will be the first of three Twenty20 Internationals.

What time is the match being played?

The match will begin at 8.10am GMT (The local time will be 6.40am ACDT)

Where is the match taking place?

It has not yet been confirmed which ground the women will use but the match is due to be played in Adelaide.

How to watch the first T20 match?

All of the matches will be available to watch through BT Sport. 

Packages for BT Sport start at £15/month. Go to our article on How to watch the Women’s Ashes to find out more.

Who are in the Squads?

The squads for the T20 match have not yet been announced.

Here is who is in each squad for Heather Knight and Meg Lanning’s team.

England squad: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.

Australia squad: Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning (Captain), Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck.

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