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[update], 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]
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
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 Women's Cricket Association (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]
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]
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