England Women to play first Test at Lord’s as 2025 schedule revealed

England Women will play their first ever Test match at Lord’s Cricket Ground as part of a string of new fixtures announced for both the men’s and women’s sides for the 2025 cricket season.

The side will face India in a one-off test match at the home of cricket in the summer of 2026, exactly half a century on from the women’s team’s first match at the ground.

England Women have hosted Tests at some of England’s biggest grounds – including Trent Bridge, The Rose Bowl and the home of Glamorgan Sophia Gardens – but the game against India will be the first at Lord’s.

The date for the game has not been confirmed.

The landmark match was unveiled alongside the full fixture list for the home cricket season in 2025, which will see England Men and England Women host both the West Indies and India.

The men’s series against India will start on June 20 and comprise five test matches at Headingly, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford and The Oval.

The two women’s sides will face off in five T20s and three one-day international (ODI) games, which will take place alongside the men’s series, which will culminate in early August.

Before that, the Men’s and Women’s sides will face series against the West Indies. The Women will play three T20 games against the side ranked eighth in the world, while the men will will play a three-match ODI games starting on May 29.

As with the India series, the Men’s and Women’s games will take place alongside one another.

But the season’s first match will be a previously announced one-off Test against Zimbabwe, which will be the first time the African nation has played a Test match in England for over 20 years.

The summer will conclude in September, when the men take on South Africa in three ODIs and three T20s against before travelling to Ireland for three more ODIs.

Richard Gould, the chief executive of the ECB, said of the Women’s side’s first Test at Lord’s: “I’m delighted we can confirm that India Women will 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 for the game.”

Tickets for the games will go on sale for priority groups from August 29.