London, Nov 11 (IANS) England Women’s tour of the West Indies next April will go ahead without a Test match, said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which added that the fixture has been done away with, making room for four red-ball games at home before the Women’s Ashes against Australia takes place at Headingley in 2027.

The trip to the Caribbean, which takes place after the English domestic season begins, will now consist of three T20Is and three ODIs. According to the ECB, the calendar no longer had room for the Test that had originally been planned.

As per the ECB, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has agreed to the request, and the ECB praised the board for its cooperation during the talks. England last played a Test match against India at Lord’s, which they lost by 270 runs.

“We appreciate the constructive conversations with Cricket West Indies that have enabled us to look forward to an exciting tour of the Caribbean before focusing our attention back on our home summer,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ECB said the CWI will confirm the dates and venues later, with the tour to take place after the first round of the One-Day Cup, in which all England players will feature. The space created will go into the Ashes build-up. England will play three intra-squad ‘best versus best’ red-ball matches in home conditions, followed by a three-day fixture against Australia A shortly before the Test begins at Headingley on June 24.

Before that, the red-ball squad will spend 10 days at a red-ball camp in Bengaluru in January, ahead of the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy, to be played in Vadodara and Mumbai from February 14-28.

Gould explained why the board was putting so much into a single Test. “We are all hugely excited by the prospect of England Women taking on Australia Women in their Metro Bank Ashes Test at Headingley next summer.

“It will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the summer and is worth four points in the multi-format series, so it is important that our players have the right preparation leading into the match and are given the best chance to succeed.

“A 10-day warm-weather red-ball camp in India followed by four further matches in English conditions will provide Charlotte Edwards and her team with the appropriate game time to be ready for that challenge,” he said.

The decision also addresses a wider problem. England’s domestic system offers players very few chances to play multi-day cricket. At least two of the intra-squad games will let the selectors watch a larger group of players in the longer format before the Ashes squad is named.

“Best versus best in English conditions provides a valuable opportunity for the team. It also allows us to assess our strength in depth, give opportunities to more players and get a number of competitive multi-day cricket matches across a longer period into the wider group,” added Gould.

--IANS

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