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Women’s Tests are played infrequently – England captain Heather Knight is their most capped player with 13 since 2011 – and Australia’s Gardner said that the one-off Test can sometimes feel like “a formality”. <\/p>\n
“From a workload point of view, it would be tricky to fit it in with our busy summers but I would love to see three of each,” said Gardner, who was player of the series in the 2023 Ashes after taking 23 wickets with her off-spin. <\/p>\n
“Our two teams match up really well, we’ve had some really good matches against England in white-ball cricket. It would be cool to see that over a Test series because sometimes the one-off match can feel like a bit of a novelty.”<\/p>\n
The 2023 Ashes started with a five-day Test at Trent Bridge, which Australia won to take a 4-0 lead before England fought back with brilliant white-ball series wins and finished the series 8-8. <\/p>\n
The upcoming series sees the Test revert to four days in a day-night match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting on 30 January. <\/p>\n
England need to win the series outright in order to regain the Ashes for the first time in a decade, and a draw would be enough for Australia to keep hold of the trophy. <\/p>\n
“Coming to Australia and taking them on is one of the hardest things you can do in either men’s or women’s cricket,” Beaumont added.<\/p>\n
“So if we can come out on top, I think it would be a career highlight for a lot of us and we are confident of that.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n