Lord’s hosts the Test match between England and the West Indies on July 11, 2024
Featured image credit: Rob Ridley
Lord’s will stage a women’s Test for the first time in 2026, with England to host India in a one-off match.
England’s women’s team has played white-ball matches at Lord’s for the past three years, attracting crowds of up to 21,610, but the London stadium has never hosted a women’s Test before.
The women’s team’s last home Test was against Australia in the 2023 Ashes at Trent Bridge.
The announcement was made today (Thursday) by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which also confirmed that England Men and England Women will play two series alongside each other in 2025.
The women’s team will begin the summer at St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury on May 21 with a T20 match against the West Indies. This series will include a further two T20s, before the two sides meet in three one-day internationals.
England’s men’s team will begin a three-match ODI series against the West Indies on May 29, with a three-match T20 series to follow straight after. This will follow the conclusion of a Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, starting on May 22, the first time the African nation will have played a Test in England since 2003.
The men’s and women’s team will then both face India, with the two series to run alongside each other. A five-match men’s Test series will be interspersed by five women’s T20s and three ODIs.
The men’s series will begin at Headingley on June 20 and feature matches at Edgbaston, Lord’s and Emirates Old Trafford before concluding at the Kia Oval in early August. The women’s series will begin with T20s at Trent Bridge, Seat Unique Stadium, the Kia Oval, Emirates Old Trafford and Edgbaston, before ODIs at the Utilita Bowl, Lord’s and Seat Unique Riverside.
The 2025 home international summer will conclude in early September with the men’s team facing South Africa in three ODIs and three T20s, before the team travels to Ireland for three ODIs later in the month.
The date for the women’s Test against India at Lord’s in 2026 has not yet been announced.
Richard Gould, chief executive of the ECB, said: “Staging England Men’s and England Women’s series alongside each other has been popular with fans and supported the continued growth of the women’s game, with both the Ashes last year and the Pakistan series earlier this year proving successful.
“I’m excited we’ll be doing the same again for the West Indies and India series next year. Cricket fans are in for a real treat, and I hope they’ll be out in force to support both men’s and women’s sides.”
He added: “I’m also delighted we can confirm that India Women will return in 2026 to take on England Women in the first-ever women’s Test match at Lord’s. It will be a truly special occasion, and one of real significance.”
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