First women's Test to be played at Lord's in 2026

August 22, 2024
First women's Test to be played at Lord's

In 2026, England will play India in the inaugural women's Test match at Lord's.

Since Australia won the Ashes at Trent Bridge in 2023, this will be England's first home Test match.

The duration of the Lord's match has not yet been established, but that Test lasted five days instead of the customary four days for women's matches.

In December 2023, Heather Knight's Test team played India in Mumbai. They will play them again this winter in South Africa.

They will also play a Test during the away Ashes tour of 2025, which will be hosted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Women's Tests are played rarely, usually as one-off Tests scheduled into a longer white-ball series.

But India have recently shown a desire for more Tests, having faced England, South Africa and Australia in the last three years.

White-ball matches are regularly staged at Lord's, including England's historic World Cup win in 2017, last year's Ashes T20 and the T20 against New Zealand earlier this summer.

Captain Knight is England's most experienced Test player, with 12 caps.