ECB Open to Funding West Indies Women's Test for Ashes Prep — SkimNews
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- ECB chair Richard Thompson said the organization would "look at" funding a women's Test in the West Indies in spring 2027 if needed, calling it a critical red-ball warm-up before the sole women's Ashes Test at Headingley in June.
- Cricket West Indies announced wide-ranging money-saving measures last week including cuts to player contracts, after spending more than $80m on domestic air travel between islands over the past 15 years.
- In March, a women's Test West Indies were scheduled to host against Australia was cancelled, with only the white-ball leg of that tour going ahead — a precedent Thompson is now working to avoid repeating.
- England have not played West Indies in a women's Test since 1979, while West Indies have not played any Test, men's or women's, since a tour of Pakistan in 2004.
- Since being whitewashed on the 2025 Ashes tour in Australia, England have played just one Test — a defeat by India at Lord's earlier this year — and will hold a 10-day red-ball camp in India in January as part of Ashes preparation.
- Thompson drew a parallel with last year's Zimbabwe men's Test at Lord's, where the ECB paid the visitors a touring fee rather than relying on the usual reciprocal hosting arrangement.
- Speaking at the same Lord's event, the ECB launched "Cricket for Teachers" and "Secondary Countdown Cricket" aimed at 1,700+ state secondary schools, citing a Sutton Trust finding that 59% of male and 50% of female professional cricketers are privately educated.
Why it matters: England's Ashes hopes rest on red-ball form, yet they have played only one Test since their 2025 Australian tour whitewash. With Cricket West Indies already cancelling one women's Test this year and trimming player contracts, the ECB is confronting whether to underwrite a touring opponent directly — a near-unprecedented move in international cricket that would set a new template for financially stretched host boards.
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