‘We'll keep advocating for more Test cricket’: Cricket Australia open to expanding women’s Tests in ‘marquee’ series vs India

Cricket Australia's Chief Executive Nick Hockley wants to make the women's Test series against India and England more exciting. Right now, they play only one match, but he wants to make it three matches. He thinks this will make the games more special when they are played in Australia.

The leader of Cricket Australia has shown a strong commitment to having more Test matches in women's cricket. Hockley's statements came after Captain Alyssa Healy expressed her feelings of unfulfilled ambition following Australia's recent defeat to India in Mumbai.

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Australia faced an eight-wicket loss against India in a single Test match in Mumbai, and this result has sparked a desire within the team for more opportunities to play Test cricket.

"We'll keep advocating for more Test cricket as part of a multi-format series. Maybe that's something in the future that we can think about key marquee series going to three Tests," Hockley told SEN.

Australia's marquee women's Test series typically involve England and India, with New Zealand seeming reluctant to include women's Tests in their schedule. The recent loss in Mumbai was Australia's initial defeat to India in 11 Tests. Alyssa strongly expressed her wish to be part of more red-ball cricket after this match.

"It would create a real contest over three games. That would be an unbelievable experience for our group, and probably a true test of both sides' abilities. The one-off Test, India playing in their home conditions, you'd expect them to be heavy favourites. We would love to have another crack at it, show what we learned and put it into practice."

The most recent women's Test series with more than one match took place in 2006, and India had not hosted any red-ball cricket for nine years until 2023.

The first match of the three-match women's ODI series between India and Australia is slated for December 28 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Subsequently, three T20Is will take place at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. After the initial ODI in Mumbai, the following ODIs are scheduled for December 30 and January 2, 2024.

(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)

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