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Cricket's oldest rivalry to light up the MCG for historic day/night test match

Published: 30 January 2025

The all-conquering Aussies can complete an Ashes whitewash at the home of cricket, in front of an expected record women’s Test match crowd.

History will be made at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the home of cricket hosts its first ever day/night Test match when Australia takes on England in the Women’s Ashes Test from 30 January to 2 February 2025.

Excitement is building across Melbourne, with ticket sales already ensuring the Ashes series will be the highest attended women’s international series in Australian history with the match expected to break the global women’s Test attendance record of 23,207.

Australia's women's cricket team celebrates a wicket at a recent test match.

The Australian team has enjoyed a period of domination in world cricket unlike few others. Injured Australian test spinner and Gippsland local Sophie Molineux says the hunger has remained across the team right through the Ashes series, reflecting their strong performances.

'It’s a true testament to the place the Australian team is in at the moment. We had a disappointing T20 World Cup a few months ago and I think that’s really fired up everyone.

'You can see the way we’ve played over the last couple of weeks has been pretty incredible. You can tell there’s a bit of fire in the belly there,' Molineux said.

The Victorian Government is partnering with Cricket Australia, providing support to help the Women’s Ashes Test match continue the transformation of women’s sport. Marketing and activations include the exciting Ashes After Dark, featuring top musical performances across the first 3 nights of the test match.

Melbourne-born artist G Flip will take to the stage during Dinner Break on Day 1 of the match, whilst Zambian singer, rapper and songwriter Sampa the Great will lead a Dinner Break dance party on Friday night before DJ duo Kinder ignite the MCG on Saturday night.

The sole Test match is also the culmination of the Women’s Ashes which is a multi-format, point-based series made up of 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and the MCG test.

Having already retained the Ashes through a dominant display across the ODI’s and T2O’s, the host will celebrate their sixth straight Ashes title attempting to secure the first ever clean sweep since the points format was introduced.

Victorian-born all-rounder Annabel Sutherland is excited at the prospect of completing the team’s dominant Ashes performance at the ‘G.

To finish off at the MCG with a Test match under lights, there’s nothing better than winning a Test match here against England.

Annabel Sutherland – Australian all-rounder

The Ashes Test will be the first women’s Test played at the MCG since 1949 and will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the inaugural women’s Ashes series in 1934-35.

It will also be the first time the Australian women’s cricket team has graced the mighty MCG since their heroic victory over India in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 Final played in front of 86,174 fans.

Multiple generations of Australian cricketers at the Melbourne Cricket in preparation for the historic Women’s Ashes Test match.
Former Australian captain Marg Jennings and Sophie Molineux with junior cricketers.

The day/night Test will be the ideal way to complete an historic summer of cricket in Victoria, highlighted by a record-breaking men’s Boxing Day Test which saw Australia defeat India.

A total of 373,691 passionate cricket fans walked through the turnstiles across the 5 days of the Boxing Day Test, bookended by a sellout crowd of 87,242 on day one and 74,362 on day 5 as the hosts secured a thrilling victory.

The Melbourne Renegades also made history in the Women’s Big Bash League, claiming an inaugural title by 7 runs over the Brisbane Heat also at the MCG, captained by Sophie Molineux.

Events like the Women’s Ashes Test and the Boxing Day Test help build Victoria’s packed major events calendar which contributes $3.3 billion to the state’s economy every year.

To book your seat at the Women’s Ashes Test match, visit the Ticktek website.

Page last updated: 05 Feb 2025
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