The Women's Ashes Explained

The Women's Ashes
Country:
Administrator:	International Cricket Council
Cricket Format:	Mixed, points based system
First:	1934–35 (Australia)
Last:	2023 (England)
Next:	2024–25 (Australia)
Tournament Format:	Series
Most Successful:	(10 titles)
Most Runs:	Ellyse Perry (1761)
Most Wickets:	Ellyse Perry (66)

The Women's Ashes is the perpetual trophy in women's international cricket series between England and Australia. The name derives from the historic precedent of the Ashes in male cricket and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the outcomes of Test matches.

Since the Australian tour of England in 2013, the competition is decided on a points system, taking account of One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 International matches as well as Tests. Four (previously six) points^[1] are awarded for a Test victory (two points to each side in the event of a draw), and two points for a victory in a limited-overs game.

History

Heralded in 1931,^[2] the first women's Test series between England and Australia—the first women's Test series anywhere—was played in 1934–35.^[3] At that time, according to the English captain, Betty Archdale, women played only "for love of the game" and did not wish to be associated with the male concepts of Tests and Ashes.^[4]

A total of 24 series have taken place, with 51 Test matches played (and one scheduled Test abandoned). The length of series has varied between one and five Tests. Series have been played biennially since 2001, with only one or two tests played in a series. Since the 2013 series, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 International matches have counted, as well as Tests, toward the trophy result., a Test victory is worth four points (two to each side for a draw), and two points are awarded for victory in a limited-overs match.^[1] In February 2007, England Women travelled to Australia to defend the Women's Ashes, doing so successfully by winning the one-off Test in Bowral by six wickets. In July 2009, England retained the Women's Ashes after the one-off test at Worcester ended in a draw. In January 2011 Australia was victorious, winning a one-off test in Sydney. England regained the trophy on the new points system in August 2013, and successfully defended it in a series played in Australia in January–February 2014.^[5] Australia succeeded in regaining the trophy during the 2015 series played in England.^[6]

Australia has retained the Ashes for three consecutive series - 2017-18, 2019 and 2021–22 - making them the current holder of the trophy.^[7]

Trophy

Before the ODI series in July 1998, the president of the Women's Cricket Association, Norma Izard devised a way for the women to have a trophy of their own, like the men's Ashes urn. The England and Australia players both signed a miniature cricket bat which was burned at Lord's in a wok alongside a copy of the WCA constitution and rulebook, as the WCA had voted 4 months earlier to merge with England and Wales Cricket Board.^[8] Izard had commissioned a trophy to hold them: a wooden cricket ball^[9] carved from yew.

Following the 2001 series, the Australian team took an empty replica home with them and the ball containing the ashes remained in the Lord's museum. However, in the intervening years, one of the two wooden balls went missing. When the ECB and Cricket Australia commissioned a new trophy, the remaining ball became the focal point of the new trophy, inside nine stumps.^[10] Because of this, it remains unclear if the modern trophy contains those original ashes or not.

In July 2023, to mark the 25th anniversary of the trophy's creation, the MCC unveiled a plaque at Lord's.^[11]

Results summary

!Played	Won by Australia	Won by England	Drawn	Ref
All series	25	10	6	9	^[12]
Series in Australia	12	6	3	3
Series in England	13	4	3	6

Test (until 2010–11)

!Played	Won by Australia	Won by England	Drawn	Ref
All Tests	45	11	8	26	^[13]
Tests in Australia	22	6	4	12	^[14]
Test in England	23	5	4	14
All series	18	7	4	7
Series in Australia	9	5	2	2
Series in England	9	2	2	5

Multi-format (from 2013)

!Played	Won by Australia	Won by England	Drawn	Ref
All Matches	49	25	18	4	^[15]
Matches in Australia	21	12	5	2	^[16]
Matches in England	28	13	13	2	^[17]
All series	7	3	2	2
Series in Australia	3	1	1	1
Series in England	4	2	1	1

Series

Series decided on Test results:

Series	Season	Played in	First match	Tests played (sched)	Tests won by Australia	Tests won by England	Tests drawn	Series result	Holder at series end
1		Australia	28 December 1934	3	0	2	1	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
2		England	12 June 1937	3	1	1	1	Drawn	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
3		Australia	15 January 1949	3	1	0	2	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
4		England	16 June 1951	3	1	1	1	Drawn	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
5		Australia	7 February 1958	3 (4)	0	0	3	Drawn	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
6		England	15 June 1963	3	0	1	2	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
7		Australia	27 December 1968	3	0	0	3	Drawn	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
8		England	19 June 1976	3	0	0	3	Drawn	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
9		Australia	13 December 1984	5	2	1	2	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
10		England	1 August 1987	3	1	0	2	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
11		Australia	19 February 1992	1	1	0	0	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
12		England	6 August 1998	3	0	0	3	Drawn	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
13		England	24 June 2001	2	2	0	0	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
14		Australia	15 February 2003	2	1	0	1	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
15		England	9 August 2005	2	0	1	1	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
16		Australia	15 February 2008	1	0	1	0	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
17		England	10 July 2009	1	0	0	1	Drawn	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
18		Australia	22 January 2011	1	1	0	0	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia

Series decided on a points system:

Series	Season	Played in	First match	Test	ODIs	Twenty20s	Australia points	England points	Series result	Holder at series end
19		England	11 August 2013	Drawn	Eng 2–1 Aus	Eng 3–0 Aus	4	12	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
20		Australia	10 January 2014	Eng	Aus 2–1 Eng	Aus 2–1 Eng	8	10	bgcolor=#99ccff	England	bgcolor=#99ccff	England
21		England	21 July 2015	Aus	Eng 1–2 Aus	Eng 2–1 Aus	10	6	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
22		Australia	22 October 2017	Drawn	Aus 2–1 Eng	Aus 1–2 Eng	8	8	Drawn	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
23		England	2 July 2019	Drawn	Eng 0–3 Aus	Eng 1–2 Aus	12	4	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
24		Australia	20 January 2022	Drawn	Aus 3–0 Eng	Aus 1–0 Eng (2 no results)	12	4	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia
25		England	22 June 2023	Aus	Eng 2−1 Aus	Eng 2−1 Aus	8	8	Drawn	bgcolor=#fdea60	Australia

Player statistics

Tests (until 2010–11)

Batting

Most runs^[18]

	Player	Matches	Highest		100	50	Span
1024		11	167	56.88	3	5	1984–1998
919		12	119	43.76	2	6	1934–1951
896		10		56.00	1	7	1998–2011
874		11		58.26	2	4	1998–2009
740		9	179	49.33	2	4	1963–1976

Bowling

Most wickets^[19]

Wickets	Player	Matches				5	10	Span
53		9		12.69	1.67	3	1	1949–1958
52		9		18.26	2.01	2	0	1998–2005
51		12		16.90	1.68	2	0	1934–1951
47		11		14.76	1.88	3	0	1949–1963
31	Peggy Antonio	6		13.90	2.61	3	0	1934–1937

Multi-format (from 2013)

Player names in bold text are current international players.

Batting (all matches)

Most runs^[20]

	Player	Matches	Highest		100	50	Span
	Ellyse Perry						2013-2023
	Heather Knight		157				2013-2023
1119	Nat Sciver-Brunt	34	129	37.30	2	5	2013-2023
1033	Meg Lanning	25		39.73	2	6	2013-2019
	Alyssa Healy		71		0		2013-2023

Updated to include 2023 Women's Ashes, however some matches for the 2021-22 Women's Ashes are missing from the records.

Bowling (all matches)

Most wickets^[21]

Wickets	Player	Matches				5	Span
	Ellyse Perry						2013-2023
45	Megan Schutt	28		19.15	3.36	0	2013-2023
41	Jess Jonassen	34		26.46	3.86	0	2013-2023
	Katherine Sciver-Brunt						2013-2022
37	Sophie Ecclestone	17		25.08	3.57	2	2017-2023

Updated to include 2023 Women's Ashes however some matches for the 2021-22 Women's Ashes are missing from the records..

Further reading

• Web site: Nicholson . Raf . 'My brain was hurting after that day of cricket' . . 2023-06-22 . en . 2023-06-19.

Notes and References

1. (Formerly six points were awarded for a Test victory, prior to the 2015 series.) Women's Ashes 2015: England v Australia schedule announced, BBC News, 11 November 2014.
2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71175876?searchTerm=cricket%20booming%20among%20women&searchLimits= Cricket Booming Among Women
3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95593877 English Women's Team
4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17127779 Women Cricketers. No Ashes or Tests. Playing for Love of Game
5. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-29/england-retains-women27s-ashes-with-t20-win/5225974 England retains women's Ashes with nine-wicket Twenty20 win against Australia
6. Collins Adam. "Women's Ashes: Australia clinches the series with 20-run win over England in second T20 in Hove" ABC News, 29 August 2015
7. Web site: Women's Ashes 2022 Women's Ashes Live Score, Schedule, News . 2023-07-11 . ESPNcricinfo . en.
8. Web site: Let there be Ashes . 2023-06-22 . Cricinfo . en.
9. https://web.archive.org/web/20110603231153/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/cricket/news/1998/07/20/womens_ashes/ Starting a tradition: Australia and England to play for Women's Ashes
10. http://www.kyneton.org.au/docs/residents/Kyneton%20Connect%20Publication%20Aug%202013%202.pdf The Women’s Ashes Trophy Made in Kyneton
11. Web site: 2023-07-07 . MCC celebrate creation of Women's Ashes at Lord's ahead of England v Australia T20 clash Lord's . 2023-07-11 . www.lords.org.
12. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches- Team Records . ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
13. Web site: Statsguru Records – Women's Ashes from 2013 – Team Records. ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
14. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Team Records . ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
15. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches- Team Records . ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
16. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches in Australia- Team Records . ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
17. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches in Australia- Team Records . ESPNcricinfo . 4 September 2019.
18. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Most runs. ESPNcricinfo . 21 August 2015.
19. Web site: Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Most wickets. ESPNcricinfo . 21 August 2015 .
20. Web site: Records / Women's Ashes/ All matches / Most runs. ESPNcricinfo . 19 July 2023.
21. Web site: Records / Women's Ashes/ All matches / Most wickets. ESPNcricinfo . 19 July 2023.