The Leeds venue will host a women’s Test for the first time in 26 years to open the 2027 multi-format series
England’s women will begin their quest for Ashes redemption with another series-opening Test against Australia as Headingley was announced as its host for next year’s multi-format campaign.
As it was three years ago at Trent Bridge, the series’ sole Test will launch the women’s Ashes in 2027, beginning on June 24 just two days after the first men’s Test is scheduled to finish, the England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed.
But unlike the previous northern Ashes Test in 2023 when Ashleigh Gardner clinched victory for Australia just before lunch on the fifth day, next year’s red-ball match has been reduced to a four-day contest, the same duration for recent women’s Tests in Australia.
The Aussies have won the past two Ashes Tests after the previous three ended in draws, and have held the trophy since 2015.
The world’s No.1 side swept England 16-0 in the most recent points-based women’s Ashes series held in Australia in 2024-25.
The Test is worth four points, with each of the three T20Is and three ODIs that follow worth two.
2027 Women’s Ashes tour
Test: June 24-27, Headingley, 11am (8pm AEST)
First T20I: July 3, Trent Bridge, 7pm (July 4, 4am AEST)
Second T20I: July 6, The Oval, 6.30pm (July 7, 3.30am AEST)
Third T20I: July 9, Old Trafford, 7pm (July 10, 4am AEST)
First ODI: July 13, Rose Bowl, 1pm (10pm AEST)
Second ODI: July 16, Lord’s, 1pm (10pm AEST)
Third ODI: July 20, Edgbaston, 1pm (10pm AEST)
Whereas Cricket Australia holds their home men’s and women’s Ashes series in alternating summers, the ECB’s preference has been to run them concurrently. It means Sophie Molineux’s women will play England during the same June-July window the men’s Ashes series will occupy.
Crucially, however, there will be little overlap.
The second and third T20Is will be played in prime time following the fourth day of the second Test at Lord’s and the second day of the third Test at Edgbaston respectively.
The Test will be played between the first and second men’s Tests, while the entire ODI series has fitted into the nine-day break between the third and fourth men’s Tests.
The series will be played entirely at top-tier venues across England, with the Test at Headingley ensuring Leeds still hosts a red-ball international in 2027 after being removed from the men’s schedule.
It will be the first women’s Test at Headingley since 2001, which Australia won in three days by nine wickets thanks largely to Karen Rolton’s then record Test score of 209 not out.
The reigning T20 champions, who beat England in the World Cup final earlier this month, then head south for the first two T20 internationals at Trent Bridge and The Oval in London, before a return to the country’s north for the series finale at Manchester’s Old Trafford.
The multi-format contest concludes with three 50-over matches at the Rose Bowl, Lord’s and Edgbaston respectively.
England won both white-ball series 2-1 during the previous northern Ashes but Australia’s opening Test victory was enough to see them retain the trophy with the multi-format series drawn on eight points each.
“We’ve seen over the past two summers how the Ashes continues to engross and entertain fans across the world and that will be no different when we travel to England next year,” said CA CEO Todd Greenberg.
“The women will return to the scene of their recent ICC T20 World Cup triumph looking to assert their dominance in all three formats yet again.”
Australia will also send a third team to England in 2027 with the two nations to compete in a men’s mixed disability Ashes series for the first time.
The series marks Australia’s first international event in the new format, which brings together cricketers with a physical, intellectual or hearing impairment in one team.
Mixed disability cricket was first introduced at international level in 2025, with England and India contesting the first two international editions of the format.
“The mixed disability Ashes series will allow cricketers with a disability in Australia to add a new chapter to one of sport’s greatest rivalries, along with the men’s, women’s and blind Ashes series,” said CA’s cricket chief James Allsopp.
“We’re excited to align with other nations’ cricket boards in fielding mixed disability teams and have followed England’s and India’s series with interest the past two years.
“The National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Ballarat next January will be an important part of the selection process for the mixed disability Ashes, including our first feature match in the format.
“We can’t wait to take part in the new Ashes series next year and have our elite cricketers with a disability take on our oldest rivals in England.”
