Women’s Ashes brought forward, condensed
Scott Bailey |
Australia’s players will enter the women’s Ashes after just a three-day camp as COVID-19 restrictions forced the series to be brought forward a week.
In a raft of changes announced by Cricket Australia on Thursday, the one-day internationals will now start the multi-format series before the Test and T20s.
There will be no matches in Sydney owing to “logistical reasons”, with players avoiding a visit to what has become the coronavirus hotspot of Australia.
The schedule changes were implemented to allow the Australians enough time complete a 10-day quarantine to enter New Zealand for the 50-over World Cup.
In order to ensure preparations for that remained on track, the ODIs against England will now be played between January 20 and 23 in Adelaide, rather than between February 13 and 19.
The four-day Test match will still be played in Canberra from January 27, while the T20s will follow between February 3 and 8 at Manuka Oval and in Melbourne.
It’s believed England will still be able to retain intra-squad warm-up games as they prepare to arrive in Australia this weekend for a 10-day camp in Canberra.
That model is in theory similar to the one England’s men had in Queensland last month, only for the matches to be washed out.
Australia’s players will enter an isolation period before entering camp on January 17, just three days before the first match in Adelaide.
“We have needed to make changes to the schedule and we’re grateful to all parties for their flexibility,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.
“We are looking forward to a fantastic series between probably the two best teams in the world, with each side being current T20 and ODI world champions respectively.
“Regrettably, logistical considerations have meant that we have had to move two T20 games from North Sydney Oval, which has long been the home of the women’s game in Sydney.”
REVISED WOMEN’S ASHES SCHEDULE
January 20: 1st T20I, 6:40pm, Adelaide Oval
January 22: 2nd T20I, 1:40pm, Adelaide Oval
January 23: 3rd T20I, 1:40pm, Adelaide Oval
January 27 – January 30: Test Match, 10am, Manuka Oval
February 3: 1st ODI, 2:10pm, Manuka Oval
February 6: 2nd ODI, 10:05am, Junction Oval
February 8: 3rd ODI, 10:05am, Junction Oval
AAP