WOMEN ASHES SERIES

The Women’s Ashes series is an international cricket tournament conducted between England and Australia. This series is hosted after the historic precedent of the Ashes series in the male cricket world till 2013.

After the Australian tour of England in 2013, the results of this competitive series are decided based on the points system, considering One-Day Internationals and T20 matches along with Test Series.

For a test victory in the womens cricket match, the team was awarded six points previously and now they are given 4 points; two points to each side if the match draws. For winning a limited-overs match, the team gets 2 points. Currently, Australia is the defending champion of this trophy as of July 2019. If you want to wager on the cricket matches, read on and get the emergence of the teams.

Rejection Of the Ashes Name

In 1934-35, the first clash between Australia and England women was conducted which wasn’t Ashes in any context.

The Captain of the England team, Betty Archdale said that she would prefer not to use the term ‘Ashes’. At that time, women carved their own path and wished their series gameplay to be different than men’s.

With the growing status of the Ashes series, it got the imaginations of both the playing nations and the women squads agreed to get a piece of that.

Australian captain, Belinda Clark told a new channel, ‘There's just something about [the Ashes] that starts to conjure up some really emotional and [also] nationalistic pride. The history of the actual Ashes for the men is almost connected to the history of the nation, really. So it is a very strong message around the importance of sport and, in this case, cricket to the country and the starting of this country.

After appearing in 34 clashes for Tests, the classic rivalry of both the teams was unified in the same name and spirit. 

Rise Of The Trophy FromThe Ashes 

For England cricket, 1988 was a prominent year. The Women’s Cricket Association (WCA) decided to club with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), marking a beginning of a new era of the cricket world. 

With Australia touring to England, long-serving WCA president, Norma Izard was determined for a symbolic merger in women's cricket matches. 

She said that she was fed up and kept on saying, ‘Why don't we have a trophy?' But they never did anything about it. So I thought, 'Well, I'll do it then. I thought, 'Why shouldn't we do the same as the men? They've got Ashes, so we'll have some Ashes.’

On July 20 in 1998, at Harris Garden at Lord’s, a small, undecided ceremony was hosted to create Women’s Ashes. 

Both the teams signed a mini bat and a copy of WCA constitution, and the rules book were led to burn in a wok which was borrowed from the Lord’s kitchen. The remaining was sealed in a ball that was made from a 300-year old English Yew tree. 

Clark said that she wasn’t sure of the recognition of the importance of the moment at that time. That was simply one of those things that her team needed. On reflection, on reflection, though, she thought that was a really crucial time when there was a symbol created that made the cricket series more special.   

She added, ‘I think the women's Ashes is really trying to get out from the shadows of the men's game a little bit and just basically recognise and acknowledge that there's a strong history in the women's game as well.’

The Golden Era Under the Captaincy of Clark 

The time when Clark was the captain of the Australian team, she led some of the best players, featuring the likes of Karen Rolton, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Mel Jones, Jo Broadbent, and current England coach Lisa Keightley.

Clark expressed, ‘I just feel so fortunate that I played in an era where we did have very strong teams, we had a lot of depth. And it's great to see the current-day teams following in those footsteps.’ The 1998 tour of England is one of her best memories against their old rivals. On a day after the trophy ceremony, Clark captained Australia team to win their 5th title and the final ODI at the home of the cricket, getting a whitewash series win. 

For a really long time at the Lord’s stadium, the power of the male cricketers was a dream for female cricketers as Keightley earned the title of being the first woman to smash a century on that stadium. Joining the record-making queue, Fitzpatrick became the first woman to take 5 wickets at that ground. 

Clark stated that it was a dominant performance while leading the best players of the Australian cricket team with those being the best., becoming the firsts from the same team at a historic ground. That moment sticks out in my mind forever. 

After the ODI series, 3 womens cricket match of ODI were conducted and all of them had a draw result. It means that it was the first Ashes series win officially. 

Honoring Women’s Sporting Spirit

The trophy and the series has come to light since 194-35. In 2013, it went from only the Tests series to a multi-format series that featured a points system to determine the eventual winner. 

With that happened, the trophy was given a face lift in which the original ball used was placed inside a frame. Since 2000, the Peden-Archdale medal which was named after the inaugural captains, Margaret Peden of Australia and Betty Archdale from England has been awarded to the player of the series. 

While the progress in the matches won’t change and will never stop. Clark has been a great believer to preserve and celebrate the place and the time ]where the women players have come from. 

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