While the first day-night Test at the MCG is the main event today another important cricket match is taking place in Melbourne with an Afghanistan XI playing a 20‑over match against a Cricket Without Borders Charity XI.
Raf Nicholson spoke to two of the women playing under the Afghanistan banner for the first time since the Taliban seized power of the country in 2021 and they were forced to flee for their lives.
When the game finishes, we don’t want it to end. We want to go further and have other matches in Australia. We’re glad to have Cricket Australia with us – now we hope to get some support from ICC. We will try to be the best, to tell Afghan girls that they can do it.
Peter Warrington is first to let us know his thoughts on the Australia XI with concerns around how they might take 20 England wickets across the coming four days of play.
“Australia have stacked the batting, possibly because Mooney can’t open and keep. Possibly because a number are in pretty awful form – Litchfield, Perry, Sutherland, and Voll has a couple of 20s. Ash and Brown have had one good test each and Kingy has been on fire, but it’s not clear to me we have structured an attack to win – unless the plan is to use that batting depth to get 450 super fast?”
I think with the many all-rounders, including a mix of seamers and spinners, Healy should have enough options to turn to. But it will be interesting to see how Garth and Brown handle the new ball.
Tammy Beaumont returns to open alongside Maia Bouchier after missing out on the T20s with a formidable Test record against Australia. Knight explains that England have gone with the extra seamer as 20-year-old all-rounder Ryana MacDonald-Gay is called into action for the first time in the series, while spinner Charlie Dean misses out. Kate Cross has not quite done enough to prove her fitness in time.
Australia welcome back gun all-rounder Ash Gardner as well as their captain Alyssa Healy, while it’s confirmed that Georgia Voll will make her Test debut. Healy says that Voll will bat at the top of the order, likely opening with her great mate Phoebe Litchfield, with Healy to bat at 4 and Beth Mooney to come in at 6 while also taking the keeping gloves. The in-form Alana King gets the nod as the specialist spinner.
Australia win the toss and elect to bowl
Alyssa Healy wins the toss as Heather Knight calls incorrectly for the tourists. The Australia skipper is dressed in cricket pioneer Betty Wilson’s blazer as she explains the decision to field first. “Little bit of grass coverage, does a bit early here, so we’ll have first crack with the ball and see if we can get a bit out of the surface,” Healy said.
It seems the England skipper might have also taken the unusual step to bowl first, though that’s one we will never know. “I’m not too displeased to be batting but we do expect it to do a bit early,” Knight said. “We’re just really excited, we want to play hard and give a good account of ourselves.”
Georgia Voll’s summer to remember continues as the emerging batter is awarded her first baggy green in the Test against England at the MCG. The 21-year-old made an immediate impact in three ODIs against India late last year and showed that she can play with plenty of intent after making her T20 debut in the three clashes with England. Voll now gets an opportunity to show what she can do against the pink ball.
Alyssa Healy has been included in the Australia XI as selectors back her fitness after the skipper missed the T20 leg of the series due to a stress reaction in her foot. Australia’s usual wicketkeeper will play as a batter only with Beth Mooney to take the gloves for the first time in a Test and shift down the batting order.
Raf Nicholson has been following England across the series as the tourists try to turn around their poor form as much as results. Despite most matches being much less competitive than expected, especially after the tied series 18 months ago, a sizeable crowd has made their way into the MCG for the historic occasion.
Beth Mooney was the standout player of the T20 leg of the Ashes as she amassed 213 runs across three innings in the shortest format. The opener-sometimes-keeper has also been making her mark as a regular Guardian columnist across the series and has explained what playing a Test on the MCG will mean to her and the rest of the group, as well as revealing how determined Australia are to complete a clean sweep.
There has been a lot of chat around the 2023 Ashes and that we let England back into the contest to tie that series. We wanted to make sure we didn’t give them a sniff this time.
The conditions in Melbourne are nothing short of perfect for both players and the fans packing the stands – sunny and a high of 21C forecast throughout the day, dropping to around 17C at stumps. It should be warmer over the next three days but still with few clouds on the horizon let alone any hint of rain.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the historic Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG. Australia and England will play the first day-night, pink-ball Test at the grand arena, while also meeting in this format at the venue for the first time since 1949.
Australia won that Test convincingly 76 years ago and are firm favourites to pull off a similar result this time after an all-conquering Ashes series so far. The hosts have taken all 12 points with three victories in each of the ODI and T20s legs, and have been quite open about wanting to complete the first clean sweep since the multi-format series was introduced.
That should be reason enough for England to turn up for a fight over the next four days in Melbourne and the tourists can at least turn to brushing aside history in their most recent Test outing. England thumped South Africa by 286 runs last December for their first Test victory in a decade as Maia Bouchier and Nat Sciver-Brunt hit first-innings hundreds, captain Heather Knight top-scored with 90 in the second innings, then pacer Lauren Bell ripped through the hosts as they were skittled for just 64 in the chase.
England’s hopes might be more measured this time, especially if Australia captain Alyssa Healy overcomes injury concerns to don the baggy green this afternoon. More on that shortly with the toss and team news coming up in about half an hour.
First ball will be at 2.30pm local time / AEDT or 3.30am for those watching from the chillier climes in England.
Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
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