The Women's Ashes is the perpetual

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

in women's international cricket series between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The name derives from the historic precedent of

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the outcomes of Test matches. Since the Australian tour of England in 2013, the competition is decided on a points system, taking account of

One-Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s and

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

matches as well as Tests. Four (previously six) points(Formerly six points were awarded for a Test victory, prior to the 2015 series.
Women's Ashes 2015: England v Australia schedule announced
BBC News, 11 November 2014. are awarded for a Test victory (two points to each side in the event of a draw), and two points for a victory in a limited-overs game.

History

Heralded in 1931, the first women's Test series between England and Australia—the first women's Test series anywhere—was played in 1934–35. At that time, according to the English captain, Betty Archdale, women played only "for love of the game" and did not wish to be associated with the male concepts of Tests and Ashes. A total of 24 series have taken place, with 51 Test matches played (and one scheduled Test abandoned). The length of series has varied between one and five Tests. Series have been played biennially since 2001, with only one or two tests played in a series. Since the 2013 series,

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s and

matches have counted, as well as Tests, toward the trophy result. , a Test victory is worth four points (two to each side for a draw), and two points are awarded for victory in a limited-overs match. In February 2007, England Women travelled to Australia to defend the Women's Ashes, doing so successfully by winning the one-off Test in Bowral by six wickets. In July 2009, England retained the Women's Ashes after the one-off test at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

ended in a draw. In January 2011 Australia was victorious, winning a one-off test in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. England regained the trophy on the new points system in August 2013, and successfully defended it in a series played in Australia in January–February 2014. Australia succeeded in regaining the trophy during the 2015 series played in England. Since that series, Australia has retained the trophy in five consecutive series— 2017–18,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 2021–22,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and 2024–25—making them the current holder of the trophy.

Trophy

Before the ODI series in July 1998, the president of the

Women's Cricket Association The Women's Cricket Association (WCA) was responsible for the running of women's cricket in England between 1926 and 1998. It was founded by a group of enthusiasts following a cricket holiday in Malvern. Forty-nine games were arranged in that fir ...

, Norma Izard devised a way for the women to have a trophy of their own, like the Ashes urn. The England and Australia players both signed a miniature

cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batte ...

which was burned at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in a wok alongside a copy of the Women's Cricket Association (WCA) constitution and rulebook, as the WCA had voted 4 months earlier to merge with

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

. Izard had commissioned a trophy to hold them: a wooden cricket ball carved from yew. Following the 2001 series, the Australian team took an empty replica home with them and the ball containing the ashes remained in the Lord's museum. However, in the intervening years, one of the two wooden balls went missing. When the ECB and

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

commissioned a new trophy, the remaining ball became the focal point of the new trophy, inside nine stumps.The Women’s Ashes Trophy Made in Kyneton
'' Kyneton Connect'', August 2013 Because of this, it remains unclear if the modern trophy contains those original ashes or not. In July 2023, to mark the 25th anniversary of the trophy's creation, the MCC unveiled a plaque at Lord's.

Results summary

Test (until 2010–11)

Multi-format (from 2013)

Series

Series decided on Test results: Series decided on a points system:

Player statistics

Tests (until 2010–11)

Batting

;Most runs

Bowling

;Most wickets

Multi-format (from 2013)

Player names in bold text are current international players.

Batting (all matches)

;Most runs ''Updated to include 2023 Women's Ashes, however some matches for the 2021-22 Women's Ashes are missing from the records.''

Bowling (all matches)

;Most wickets ''Updated to include 2023 Women's Ashes however some matches for the 2021-22 Women's Ashes are missing from the records..''

History

Trophy

Results summary

Test (until 2010–11)

Multi-format (from 2013)

Series

Player statistics

Tests (until 2010–11)

Batting

Bowling

Multi-format (from 2013)

Batting (all matches)

Bowling (all matches)

References

Further reading