ECB may fund Windies women's Test for Ashes prep — SkimNews
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- ECB chair Richard Thompson said the board would "look at" funding the women's Test in the Caribbean in spring 2027 if needed, calling the match "very important" as a red-ball warm-up before the sole Ashes Test at Headingley in June.
- Cricket West Indies (CWI) last week announced money-saving measures including cuts to player contracts, and has spent more than $80m on domestic air travel between Caribbean islands over the past 15 years.
- The wider tour — three T20s and three ODIs in April-May 2027 — is not under threat, and the ECB has had no discussions with CWI about cancelling the Test, which was first announced in 2024.
- Thompson cited a precedent from the Zimbabwe men's Test in England last year, when the ECB paid the visitors a touring fee rather than relying on standard reciprocal hosting arrangements.
- West Indies women have not played a Test against anyone since a tour to Pakistan in 2004, while England have not faced West Indies in a women's Test since 1979.
- England's Ashes Test preparation also includes a 10-day red-ball training camp in India in January; England have played only one Test since their 2025 Ashes whitewash — a defeat by India at Lord's this year.
Why it matters: England have played just one Test since their 2025 Ashes whitewash and face the holders in June 2027, so a red-ball match in the Caribbean is genuinely scarce preparation. The ECB's openness to bankroll a match it would not normally pay for — a first for the women's game — exposes how thin Cricket West Indies' finances have become and how much England's Ashes bid depends on fixtures outside their control.
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