England Focuses on 2027 Women’s Ashes at Headingley
England have drawn a line in the sand for the 2027 Women’s Ashes – and it runs straight through Headingley.
In a decisive shift, the ECB has torn up plans for a historic women’s Test in the Caribbean and instead built an unapologetically red-ball-heavy build-up on home soil, all geared towards one four-day match in Leeds that could define the entire series.
All-in on Headingley
The equation is brutally simple. A Test win at Headingley, worth four points in the multi-format Ashes, would give England the platform they have been chasing since surrendering the urn to Australia in 2015. White-ball games carry just two points each. Lose the Test, and the margin for error shrinks fast. Win it, and the Ashes suddenly feel touchable again.
History has not been kind in that regard. Since Meg Lanning’s Australians prised back the trophy 11-and-a-half years ago, England have twice battled to 8-8 draws – away in 2017-18 and at home in 2023 – but on both occasions watched Australia retain the urn. The most recent chapter was harsher still: a 16-0 sweep in the 2024-25 series, a clean, cold reminder of the gulf that remains.
The 2023 Trent Bridge Test still stings. Australia won that match and, despite losing four of the six white-ball games that followed, it was enough to hold on to the Ashes. One red-ball result, decisive and ruthless, outweighed a flurry of white-ball defeats. England have clearly learned the lesson.
With at least nine points likely required to finally rip the urn back, the ECB has responded by reshaping the calendar around the longest format.
India, not Indies
The preparation begins in January with a 10-day red-ball camp in Bengaluru, a warm-weather block designed to sharpen skills and minds before the English summer. After the inaugural ICC T20 Champion’s Trophy in February, England were originally due to head to the West Indies for a multi-format tour that would have included the hosts’ first women’s Test since 2004.
That fixture is now gone.
In a statement, the ECB confirmed it had asked Cricket West Indies to revise the tour so England could commit fully to a home-based Test build-up.
“Accommodating this thorough programme of preparation in home conditions has necessitated revising the schedule of matches for England Women’s tour to West Indies in April, which is due to take place once the English domestic season is already under way,” the statement said, thanking CWI for its “understanding and collaborative approach”.
The tour will now comprise three IT20s and three ODIs only. No Test. No experiment. No distractions.
Australia and West Indies made a similar call last year, shelving a proposed Test to focus on T20 World Cup work. This time, England have chosen the opposite path: sacrifice the rarity of a Caribbean Test to double down on the Ashes.
Best v Best, Red-Ball Only
The reward for staying home is a run of meaningful long-format cricket in English conditions. England’s top players will play four red-ball practice matches before the Headingley Test, which starts on June 24.
The centrepiece is a three-day game against Australia A in the immediate build-up, a dress rehearsal with the familiar edge that comes whenever the two nations share a field. Around it, three more “best versus best” red-ball matches will pit England’s leading players against each other, with selection spots on the line and no hiding places.
For ECB chief executive Richard Gould, this is exactly the sort of preparation a four-point Test demands.
“(The Test) 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,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
This is not just about a starting XI. It is about building a squad hardened by overs, not just nets.
Australia’s Own Tune-Up
On the other side of the rivalry, Australia are yet to confirm whether they will stage their own three-day warm-up before Headingley. History suggests they might. They have previously taken on England A in red-ball fixtures ahead of their last two away Ashes tours, and they understand the value of rhythm in the longest format.
Sophie Molineux’s side will at least have one crucial stepping stone. Australia play South Africa in a Test in KuGompo City next April – their first since March – a timely chance to reacquaint themselves with the rhythms and demands of multi-day cricket before flying to England.
Both teams, then, are bending their calendars towards Leeds. One Test. Four points. Years of frustration riding on a single toss, a single session, a single spell.
The Summer Ahead
The Ashes schedule underlines just how central that Headingley clash will be.
- 2027 Women’s Ashes tour
- Test: June 24-27, Headingley, 11am (8pm AEST)
- First T20I: July 3, Trent Bridge, 7pm (July 4, 4am AEST)
- Second T20I: July 6, The Oval, 6.30pm (July 7, 3.30am AEST)
- Third T20I: July 9, Old Trafford, 7pm (July 10, 4am AEST)
- First ODI: July 13, Rose Bowl, 1pm (10pm AEST)
- Second ODI: July 16, Lord’s, 1pm (10pm AEST)
The white-ball leg will bring its own stories, its own pressure, its own crowds. But everything England are doing now points to those four days in Leeds.
They have chosen red ball over romance in the Caribbean, volume of overs over novelty value, depth over detours. The plan is clear. The question is not whether they are committed.
It is whether, when the urn is finally on the line again, this hard turn towards red-ball cricket will be enough to break Australia’s grip at last.
