The England women's cricket team is set to play a grueling multi-format series in Australia with very little breathing room, all because of next year's Indian Women's Premier League (WPL).
In just three weeks, England and Australia will face each other in three ODIs, three T20s, and a challenging four-day Test match as part of the much-anticipated Women's Ashes 2025 series.
This is a full package timetable sparking controversy, with England Women's head coach Jon Lewis expressing his frustration at the lack of a place between the upcoming Women's Ashes 2025 matches in Australia.
Jon Lewis expresses concerns over full Women's Ashes 2025 schedule ahead of WPL 2025
The reason behind this tight schedule is the upcoming Women's Premier League 2025 (WPL 2025) in India, which made Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) the 2025 series Women's Ashes to compress.
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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 pink-ball Test four days later in Melbourne, which has angered the England Women coach as he feels the players will face a big challenge.
England coach Jon Lewis has stressed that the Women's Ashes 2025 schedule is not ideal, saying he and the players would prefer 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 the physical endurance and mental stamina of the players.
No flexibility due to WPL and Christmas: England Women coach
The Guardian quoted Jon Lewis as saying: “My preference is for more space between games, and the players would prefer it too. I'm pretty sure we would have asked for more space between the white ball (games) and the test match, but the schedule came back as it was. It won't be straight. The schedule is very tight, close together. There is no flexibility because of WPL and Christmas.”
Meanwhile, the Women's Premier League 2025 (WPL2025) will begin on February 21, but players will have to reach India earlier for preparatory and media activities. Six players from the England women's Ashes team will take part in the five-a-side WPL 2025 competition in February-March next year.
Six England players from the Ashes squad will take part in WPL 2025
These England Women's players are Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, and Dani Gibson, who will play in the WPL 2025. Notably, the ECB named the team for the Ashes upcoming 2025 ban. , with Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Ryana Macdonald-Gay, and Bess Heath.
The much-anticipated women's Ashes 2025 will begin with the first ODI starting on January 11 at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney. The second ODI will be held on January 13 at Junction Oval in Melbourne, while the final ODI will be held 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 will be held at Adelaide Oval on January 25. The one-off Test match will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from February 2.
