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The Women's Ashes

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The Women's Ashes
Countries Australia
 England
AdministratorInternational Cricket Council
FormatMixed, points based system
First edition1934–35 (Australia)
Latest edition2023 (England)
Next edition2024–25 (Australia)
Tournament formatSeries
Current champion Australia
Most successful Australia (10 titles)
Most runsAustralia Ellyse Perry (1761)[a][1]
Most wicketsAustralia Ellyse Perry (66)[a][2]

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[3] 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

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Heralded in 1931,[4] the first women's Test series between England and Australia—the first women's Test series anywhere—was played in 1934–35.[5] 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.[6]

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. As of 2015, 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.[3]

Australian Beth Mooney batting in the 2017–18 Women's Ashes Test at North Sydney Oval with England's Sarah Taylor keeping wicket behind her.

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.[7] Australia succeeded in regaining the trophy during the 2015 series played in England.[8]

Australia has retained the Ashes for three consecutive series - 2017-18, 2019 and 2021–22 - making them the current holder of the trophy.[9]

Trophy

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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.[10] Izard had commissioned a trophy to hold them: a wooden cricket ball[11] carved from yew.[10]

A metal plaque set in flagstones with a pyramid shaped trophy and the date 20 July 1998.
The plaque commemorating the Women's Ashes trophy creation at Lord's.

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.[10] When the ECB and Cricket Australia commissioned a new trophy, the remaining ball became the focal point of the new trophy, inside nine stumps.[12] Because of this, it remains unclear if the modern trophy contains those original ashes or not.[10]

In July 2023, to mark the 25th anniversary of the trophy's creation, the MCC unveiled a plaque at Lord's.[13]

Results summary

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Played Won by
Australia		 Won by
England		 Drawn Ref
All series 25 10 6 9 [14]
Series in Australia 12 6 3 3 [14]
Series in England 13 4 3 6 [14]

Series

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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 1934–35 Australia 28 December 1934 3 0 2 1 England England
2 1937 England 12 June 1937 3 1 1 1 Drawn England
3 1948–49 Australia 15 January 1949 3 1 0 2 Australia Australia
4 1951 England 16 June 1951 3 1 1 1 Drawn Australia
5 1957–58 Australia 7 February 1958 3 (4) 0 0 3 Drawn Australia
6 1963 England 15 June 1963 3 0 1 2 England England
7 1968–69 Australia 27 December 1968 3 0 0 3 Drawn England
8 1976 England 19 June 1976 3 0 0 3 Drawn England
9 1984–85 Australia 13 December 1984 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
10 1987 England 1 August 1987 3 1 0 2 Australia Australia
11 1991–92 Australia 19 February 1992 1 1 0 0 Australia Australia
12 1998 England 6 August 1998 3 0 0 3 Drawn Australia
13 2001 England 24 June 2001 2 2 0 0 Australia Australia
14 2002–03 Australia 15 February 2003 2 1 0 1 Australia Australia
15 2005 England 9 August 2005 2 0 1 1 England England
16 2007–08 Australia 15 February 2008 1 0 1 0 England England
17 2009 England 10 July 2009 1 0 0 1 Drawn England
18 2010–11 Australia 22 January 2011 1 1 0 0 Australia 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 2013 England 11 August 2013 Drawn Eng 2–1 Aus Eng 3–0 Aus 4 12 England England
20 2013–14 Australia 10 January 2014 Eng Aus 2–1 Eng Aus 2–1 Eng 8 10 England England
21 2015 England 21 July 2015 Aus Eng 1–2 Aus Eng 2–1 Aus 10 6 Australia Australia
22 2017–18 Australia 22 October 2017 Drawn Aus 2–1 Eng Aus 1–2 Eng 8 8 Drawn Australia
23 2019 England 2 July 2019 Drawn Eng 0–3 Aus Eng 1–2 Aus 12 4 Australia Australia
24 2021–22 Australia 20 January 2022 Drawn Aus 3–0 Eng Aus 1–0 Eng
(2 no results)		 12 4 Australia Australia
25 2023 England 22 June 2023 Aus Eng 2−1 Aus Eng 2−1 Aus 8 8 Drawn Australia

Player statistics

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Tests (until 2010–11)

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Batting

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Most runs[20]
Runs Player Matches Highest Average 100 50 Span
1024 England Jan Brittin 11 167 56.88 3 5 1984–1998
919 England Myrtle Maclagan 12 119 43.76 2 6 1934–1951
896 England Charlotte Edwards 10 114* 56.00 1 7 1998–2011
874 Australia Karen Rolton 11 209* 58.26 2 4 1998–2009
740 England Rachael Heyhoe Flint 9 179 49.33 2 4 1963–1976

Bowling

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Most wickets[21]
Wickets Player Matches BBI Average Economy 5 10 Span
53 Australia Betty Wilson 9 7/7 12.69 1.67 3 1 1949–1958
52 Australia Cathryn Fitzpatrick 9 5/29 18.26 2.01 2 0 1998–2005
51 England Myrtle Maclagan 12 7/10 16.90 1.68 2 0 1934–1951
47 England Mary Duggan 11 7/6 14.76 1.88 3 0 1949–1963
31 Australia Peggy Antonio 6 6/49 13.90 2.61 3 0 1934–1937

Multi-format (from 2013)

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Player names in bold text are current international players.

Batting (all matches)

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Most runs[1][b]
Runs Player Matches Highest Average 100 50 Span
1693 Australia Ellyse Perry 36 213* 62.7 2 12 2013-2023
1182 England Heather Knight 33 157 35.82 1 10 2013-2023
1119 England Nat Sciver-Brunt 34 129 37.30 2 5 2013-2023
1033 Australia Meg Lanning 25 133* 39.73 2 6 2013-2019
774 Australia Alyssa Healy 32 71 25.8 0 6 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)

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Most wickets[2][b]
Wickets Player Matches BBI Average Economy 5 Span
59 Australia Ellyse Perry 42 7/22 16.29 2.79 3 2013-2023
45 Australia Megan Schutt 28 4/22 19.15 3.36 0 2013-2023
41 Australia Jess Jonassen 34 4/38 26.46 3.86 0 2013-2023
39 England Katherine Sciver-Brunt 26 6/69 29.03 3.6 1 2013-2022
37 England Sophie Ecclestone 17 5/63 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..

  1. ^ a b Unfortunately, some matches from the 2021-22 series have been excluded from the record, meaning these numbers are likely an underestimation.
  2. ^ a b For any player who participated in the series prior to 2013, those scores have been subtracted to achieve their post 2013 records.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Records / Women's Ashes/ All matches / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Records / Women's Ashes/ All matches / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b (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.
  4. ^ Cricket Booming Among Women in "Woman's Ways" feature, The Worker (Brisbane), 29 April 1931, at Trove
  5. ^ English Women's Team Kalgoorlie Miner, 12 March 1947, at Trove
  6. ^ Women Cricketers. No Ashes or Tests. Playing for Love of Game The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Nov 1934, at Trove
  7. ^ England retains women's Ashes with nine-wicket Twenty20 win against Australia ABC News (Australia), 29 January 2014.
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ "Women's Ashes | 2022 Women's Ashes | Live Score, Schedule, News". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d "Let there be Ashes". Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  11. ^ Starting a tradition: Australia and England to play for Women's Ashes at sportsillustrated.cnn.com, 20 July 1998. Accessed 4 September 2013
  12. ^ The Women’s Ashes Trophy Made in Kyneton Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine Kyneton Connect, August 2013
  13. ^ "MCC celebrate creation of Women's Ashes at Lord's ahead of England v Australia T20 clash | Lord's". www.lords.org. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches- Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Statsguru Records – Women's Ashes from 2013 – Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches- Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches in Australia- Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Records – Women's Ashes –All Matches in Australia- Team Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  21. ^ "Records – Women's Ashes until 2011 – Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2015.

Further reading

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