The England women's cricket team is set to play a grueling multi-format match series in Australia With hardly any breathing room, it's all 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 tough four-day Test match as part of the highly anticipated Women's Ashes 2025 series.
This is jam packed table It sparked controversy, with England Women's coach John Lewis expressing frustration at the lack of space between matches in the upcoming 2025 Women's Ashes in Australia.
John Lewis expresses concerns over Women's Ashes 2025 schedule congested due to WPL 2025
The reason behind this busy schedule is the upcoming 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL 2025) in India, which has forced Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to compress 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 has angered the England Women's coach as he feels the players will face a big challenge.
England coach John Lewis has confirmed that the 2025 Women's Ashes schedule is not ideal, saying he and the players would have preferred more time between the white-ball matches and the one-off Test match. Despite requests for more flexibility, the schedule remains tight which will test players' physical stamina and mental resilience.
No flexibility due to WPL and Christmas: England Women's coach
“I would prefer there to be more space between matches, as will be the players' preference,” John Lewis was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “I'm sure we would have asked for more space between the white ball (matches) and the Test match, but the schedule is back to what it was. It won't be It's easy, very busy schedule, 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 reach India early for preparation and media duties. Six players from the England Women's Ashes team will take part in the five-team WPL 2025 tournament in February and March next year.
Six English Ashes players are taking part in WPL 2025
These English players are Alice Capsey, Nat Schaefer-Brent, Dani White-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Dani Gibson, who will play in WPL 2025. Notably, the ECB has already announced the squad for the upcoming women's Ashes 2025 team. , featuring Heather Knight, Nat Seaver-Brunett, Sophie Ecclestone, Maya Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Rayanna MacDonald-Jay, and Bess Heath.
The highly anticipated Women's Ashes 2025 will begin with the first ODI on January 11 at North Sydney Oval in Sydney. The second ODI will be played on January 13 at Junction Oval in Melbourne, and the final ODI will be played on January 16 at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
After the ODI series, England and Australia will face each other in the T20I series. The first T20I will be played on January 20 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, followed by the second T20I on January 23 at Manuka Oval in Canberra. The final T20I match will be played at Adelaide Oval on January 25. The one-off test match will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from February 2.
