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A Test for the future: Why England vs India Women at Lord's was more than just a historic first originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
India's Women made history at Lord's this week, securing a mammoth win by 270 runs over England. However, beyond the result itself it was a Test match that potentially reveals a greater question off the field. Mainly, why the game took so long to actually occur in the first place?
Despite Lord’s being known as the “Home of Cricket”, this was shockingly the first time the venue had hosted a women’s Test match.
Women’s Test cricket in itself is not a new format, as the inaugural Test was played way back in 1934 between England and Australia. Why, then, did we have to wait so long to bring a women's Test match 'home'?
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The answer is a little more complex than some of the headlines and the debate on social media might initially suggest.
It isn’t that women weren’t playing at the ground, because England Women first played at Lord’s in 1976. Since then, the venue has also hosted Women’s World Cup finals, ODI games, The Hundred tournaments, and some of the largest crowds in the history of women’s Cricket. To that end, women have been part of the Lord’s legacy for more than half a century.
So what’s the catch? Why not Test matches? The answer lies in the format itself.
While Test matches have long been the most elite form of international cricket for men, women’s cricket has developed in a completely opposite direction. And the numbers are proof of this — since the advent of Test matches in 1877, men’s cricket has had over 2,500 Tests played worldwide. Women’s cricket has produced just over 150 Tests in 92 years.
To put things into perspective, there have been more than 1400 women's ODIs, and more than 2000 T20Is. Those are the formats that have become an integral part of women’s cricket in modern times.
Test matches aren’t a regular occurrence for many female international cricketers, to the extent that some of them can go their entire careers without a single Test series feature.
Why? Well, as women’s cricket began to gain popularity, the respective cricketing boards had to start making decisions regarding resource allocation. And, with limited resources, they had to prioritise formats that were more commercially viable, easier to broadcast, and had a higher audience retention capacity.
That led to a focus on One Day Internationals during the latter half of the 20th Century, before the rise of T20 cricket shifted the entire landscape of the sport, for both women and the men.
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Franchise cricket began picking up, with the likes of the Women’s Big Bash League and the WPL expanding cricket audiences further and developing way more opportunities for players and organisations alike.
However, sacrifices had to be made, and Test cricket for women turned into a unique occurrence rather than a regular part of the international calendar.
That is why the past week at Lord’s was so incredibly momentous. The match went beyond simply Lord’s hosting a women’s Test match. It actually signified one of cricket’s most iconic venues raising the curtains on a format that has, unfortunately, been cast to the sidelines of the women’s international game.
Thankfully, India’s performance ensured that this inauguration will likely be remembered for far more than just another first time.
The dominance of Harmanpreet Kaur's side shone through, as they completed victory by a 270-run margin — one of the largest in Women’s Test history.
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"Playing at Lord's is always special," said Harmanpreet, now India's most successful Test captain with four wins, afterwards.
I really want to thank the people who thought about bringing one Test match here. These kinds of matches bring a lot of happiness and excitement. Hopefully, we'll keep getting more Test matches and keep performing the way we are doing.
It wasn't just a landmark occasion on the pitch, either. The match broke yet another attendance record for a women’s game with 37,846 attending over the four days.
The belief that there isn’t enough interest surrounding women’s cricket was proven wrong again. We saw the crowd show up, and how.
We saw the quality of cricket delivering, and how. We saw a momentous occasion worthy of such a venue, AND HOW!
The challenge now, is to ensure that this is more than just a one-and-done. With the growing demand from fans, and the growing talent of cricketers worldwide, women’s Tests need to be expanded and developed further.
Of course, this won’t be an overnight feat. Boards will be required to contribute financially, space will need to be found in the schedule of international calendars to facilitate growth of the Test format across countries. But a match like this makes an incredibly strong case for why we need to keep pushing for more.
At the end of the day, the real legacy of the match shouldn’t be that it was “the first Women’s Test at Lord’s.” It should be to be remembered simply as the first of many.
To read more of Arya Shah's regular thoughts on women's cricket visit her author page here, and for all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.
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