Lord’s Cricket Ground set for first-ever women’s Test as England host India
England host India in a women’s Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground – the first of such a kind at the venue. Lord’s will
England host India in a women’s Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground – the first of such a kind at the venue. Lord’s will finally host a women’s Test, 142 years since staging its first such men’s match, when England face India in a four-day game at the “Home of Cricket” starting on Friday. “It just boggles my mind that it is just the first (women’s) Test match here at Lord’s,” said India coach Amol Muzumdar. “It is a great occasion, and we are looking forward to it.” The match takes place just more than 50 years since the first women’s match of any kind at the renowned London venue, with England beating Australia by eight wickets in a one-day international on August 4, 1976. England’s captain at Lord’s that day was the late Rachael Heyhoe Flint, a pioneering figure in a women’s game where players were still wearing skirts rather than white or coloured trousers, as they do now.
Heyhoe Flint, who died in 2017, now has a gate named after her at Lord’s. But in 1976, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s, were still decades away from admitting women as members, with the thought of females walking directly through the Long Room of the pavilion before taking the field a distant dream. England’s No 5 that day, Megan Lear, compared the experience to the moon landing, telling The Guardian: “On that day in 1976, to walk on to the hallowed turf at Lord’s, it was like one small step for us women cricketers, but one giant leap towards the future of women’s cricket.” It is a sign of how things have changed from those amateur days that a Test between two professional sides will also be England’s second fixture at Lord’s in less than a week, following Sunday’s defeat by Australia in the women’s T20 World Cup final – a match that attracted a capacity crowd.
Nine of England’s World Cup squad are included for the Test, including captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is “hoping to play” despite a nagging calf injury. ‘History in the making’ “We’ve always known this has been on the calendar,” said England coach Charlotte Edwards. “A lot of our players have been doing Test match prep throughout the T20s, so we’re really looking forward to it,” added Edwards, England’s captain when they won the 2009 Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s. “It’s a historic Test match for us as a group and for the Indian team, and we can’t wait to play in front of a lot of people again over the next four days.” Teenage England spinner Tilly Corteen-Colman is well aware of the importance of the occasion. “I remember speaking to Lottie (Edwards) about when she used to play here and they weren’t allowed in the Long Room,” said the 18-year-old. “The first women’s Test at Lord’s is history in the making, so to be involved would be incredible.
The BriefWire