The iconic Lord's Cricket Ground, which staged its first men's Test match 142 years ago, will finally host a women's Test when England face India in a four-day game starting Friday at the "Home of Cricket."
India coach Amol Muzumdar expressed astonishment at the milestone: "It just boggles my mind that it is just the first (women's) Test match here at Lord's. It is a great occasion, and we are looking forward to it."
The match comes over 50 years after the first women's game of any kind at Lord's, when England beat Australia by eight wickets in a one-day international on August 4, 1976. England's captain that day was the late Rachael Heyhoe Flint, a pioneering figure in women's cricket, who now has a gate named after her at the venue.
In 1976, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owners of Lord's, were still decades away from admitting women as members. England's No. 5 that day, Megan Lear, compared the experience to the moon landing: "To walk on to the hallowed turf at Lord's, it was like one small step for us women cricketers, but one giant leap towards the future of women's cricket."
This Test will be England's second fixture at Lord's in less than a week, following Sunday's defeat by Australia in the women's T20 World Cup final, which attracted a capacity crowd. Nine of England's World Cup squad are included, including captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is "hoping to play" despite a calf injury.
England coach Charlotte Edwards said: "We've always known this has been on the calendar. A lot of our players have been doing Test match prep throughout the T20s. It's a historic Test match for us as a group and for the Indian team, and we can't wait to play in front of a lot of people again."
Teenage spinner Tilly Corteen-Colman, 18, acknowledged the significance: "The first women's Test at Lord's is history in the making, so to be involved would be incredible. It would mean the absolute world."
The game will also mark England batter Tammy Beaumont's farewell to international cricket. Beaumont has made 260 appearances since her debut 17 years ago and was the first English woman to score a double century in a Test — 208 against Australia in 2023.
"When I fell in love with playing cricket as a young girl, I barely knew that playing cricket for England was an option. Our first ever women's Test at Lord's feels like the perfect occasion to sign off on a career that I could never have dreamt would be as special as it has been," said the 35-year-old, who will continue playing domestic cricket.
Source: www.aljazeera.com