The England women's cricket team is set to play a grueling multi-format series in Australia with little breathing space, all thanks to the Indian Women's Premier League (WPL) next year.
In just three weeks, England and Australia will face each other in three ODIs, three T20s and a demanding four-day Test match as part of the much-anticipated Women's Ashes 2025 series.
This busy schedule is sparking controversy, with England Women's head coach Jon Lewis expressing his frustration at the lack of space between matches at the upcoming Women's Ashes 2025 in Australia.
Jon Lewis expresses concern over packed Women's Ashes 2025 schedule due to WPL 2025
The reason behind this tight schedule is the upcoming Women's Premier League 2025 (WPL 2025) in India, which has forced Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to compress the Women's Ashes 2025 series.
Also Read: WPL window blocked by BCCI, Champions Trophy 2025 clash imminent
The five-match multi-format series between Australia Women and England Women will be played across multiple cities starting January 12 in Sydney. However, there is only a four-day gap between the third T20 and the third four-day pink-ball Test in Melbourne, which has irked the England Women coach as he believes the players will face with a major challenge.
England coach Jon Lewis has stressed the Women's Ashes 2025 schedule is not ideal, saying both he and the players would have preferred more time between the white-ball games and the one-off Test match. Despite calls for more flexibility, the schedule remains tight, which will test players' physical endurance and mental resilience.
No flexibility due to WPL and Christmas: England Women's Coach
Jon Lewis was quoted by The Guardian as saying: “My preference would be to have more space between games, as well as the players' preference. I'm pretty sure we would have asked for more space between the white ball (games) and the Test match, but the schedule is back to how it was. It won't be simple. The schedule is quite hectic, close to each other. There is no flexibility because of the WPL and Christmas.”
Meanwhile, the Women's Premier League 2025 (WPL2025) will start on February 21, but the players will have to arrive in India earlier for training and media duties. Six players from England's women's Ashes squad will take part in the five-team WPL 2025 tournament in February-March next year.
Six England players from the Ashes squad are participating in WPL 2025
These England players are Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Dani Gibson, who will play in the WPL 2025. Notably, the ECB has already announced the squad for the upcoming Women's Ashes 2025. , with Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Bess Heath.
The highly anticipated Women's Ashes 2025 will begin with the first ODI from January 11 at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney. The second ODI will be played on January 13 at Junction Oval in Melbourne and the final ODI will be played on January 16 at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
After the ODI series, England and Australia will face each other in a T20I series. The first T20I will be played on January 20 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, followed by the second T20I on January 23 at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The T20I final will be held at Adelaide Oval on January 25. The one-off Test match will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from February 2.