This month marks 90 years since the first international women’s cricket Test match, with the anniversary set to be commemorated by a four-day Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) starting January 30.
In the 1934/35 summer, the same two teams matched up in a historic series when England toured Australia for the first time, sponsored by the Australian Women’s Cricket Council (AWCC) that was established in 1931 to administer the women’s game at a national level.
So what has changed in 90 years of the sport since that pivotal summer in the mid 1930s? The game sure has grown into an international force, with women cricketers now on an even footing with their male counterparts in some regards. But, there is a great distance to go and the path to reach this point has not been easy.
To begin with, the commemorative four-day Test match is the only Test the women will play this summer. The Ashes series, as the contest between Australia and England is called, takes a multi-game format made up of one day internationals and T20 games along with a singular Test. Test matches are considered the most prestigious and testing form of cricket. The men’s Ashes series is played over 5 five-day Test matches.
Calls for more Test matches in the series have been loud with Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner and England opener Tammy Beaumont uniting to call for more Tests to be added to the series. Ninety years ago, in the first women’s Ashes, there were 3 three-day Test matches and since then the bi-annual series has varied between one or two Tests. “I would just love to play more Test cricket against England,” Gardner told media at a press conference in Sydney. “Playing the one Test feels like a bit of a novelty at times.” Beaumont added: “The best thing about the Ashes is the narrative, the rivalry, how it builds over time.”
The opportunity to play Test matches has been an ongoing struggle for the women’s game since that first Test 90 years ago. Since they began, the Australian women’s side has played 79 Tests. Comparatively the men’s side play 10-15 Tests each year, meaning they have played at least the same number of Tests in the last decade as the women’s side have ever played. It would be fair to say that in terms of equal opportunity, the women’s game still has a long way to go.
The women’s Ashes has had some important highlights in the last almost-century. After it was incepted, the Ashes became a bi-annual contest until the Second World War interrupted proceedings. When they resumed in the summer of 1948-49 Australia claimed its first series victory. While the deep complex history and characters of men’s cricket has always been revered and celebrated, women cricketers have struggled to gain the same kind of national acclaim. In the 1950s, Australian all-rounder Betty Wilson became the first cricketer ever to make a century (score 100 runs) and take 10 wickets in the same match. In the same series of 1957-58, Faith Thomas became the first Aboriginal cricketer to receive a Test cap.
The Ashes series is a battle for an urn containing some ashes. In the men’s cricket this is said to be the ashes of a newspaper obituary to the death of England’s cricket. In 1998, after competing for almost 70 years without their own urn, the England and Australia captains Karen Smithies and Belinda Clark, along with outgoing Women’s Cricket Association (WCA) president Norma Izard, burnt a cricket bat signed by both teams, a copy of the WCA constitution and rulebook in a ceremony inside the famed English cricket institution of Lords, and sealed the ashes into an urn.
While equal pay has not yet been achieved across the board in cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has established equal prize money for men and women’s international cricket tournaments, with the women’s T20 World Cup played in 2024 the first tournament with equal prize money. Domestically, the pay isn’t equal yet, but women cricketers are some of the best paid female athletes in the country after huge gains in investment in the sport in recent years. Australia has remained a force to be reckoned with, having dominated all forms of the game for a number of years.
The 90-year commemorative test set to be held at the MCG, Australia’s home of cricket, will be the first time the women’s team have played a Test at the iconic venue since 1949.