Women’s Ashes schedule tweaked to accommodate World Cup quarantine

Amidst all the hype for the upcoming Women’s Ashes, the schedule for the series has been adjusted in order to allow Australia and England more time to complete their quarantine for the upcoming ODI World Cup in New Zealand. While the North Sydney Oval was all set to host two T20Is, these two games shall now take place in Adelaide, before the one-off Test.

As a matter of fact, all three T20I matches shall take place in Adelaide. While the first one takes place on January 20, the second and third are scheduled to be held on January 22 and 23 respectively. However, The Test in Canberra retains its original schedule of January 27-30.

Post the one-off Test, the three-match ODI series is set to be held. While the first one-dayer is to be hosted Manuka Oval as a day-nighter, the second and third ODI is scheduled to take place in Melbourne. Thus, this means that the Ashes will finish 11 days earlier than originally planned.

We have needed to make changes to the schedule: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley

“We have needed to make changes to the schedule and we’re grateful to all parties for their flexibility in ensuring that both Australia and England can travel to New Zealand with sufficient time to complete their mandatory quarantine period ahead of what will be an exciting tournament for both teams,” said Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley.

It is to be noted that England will still depart on January 7 for the tour, as previously planned. However, the Governor-General’s XI match will not proceed as planned, with the tour match expected to return next season. On the other hand, the A series which was due to run alongside has also been adjusted accordingly.

While the hosts are expected to announce their squad next week, they will be heading into a camp just three days before the commencement of the series. In the meanwhile, the World Cup is all set to start on March 4, and anyone travelling to New Zealand has to undergo quarantine on arrival, for at least 10 days.

Updated Ashes schedule

January 20: 1st T20I, 6:40 pm, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

January 22: 2nd T20I, 1:40 pm, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

January 23: 3rd T20I, 1:40 pm, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

January 27-30: Test, 10 am, Manuka Oval, Canberra

February 3: 1st ODI, 2:10 pm, Manuka Oval, Canberra

February 6: 2nd ODI, 10:05 am, Junction Oval, Melbourne

February 8: 3rd ODI, 10:05 am, Junction Oval, Melbourne