The case for more women’s Tests — long overdue but not as straightforward

India women are scheduled to play only one more Test match in the 2022-25 women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle, at home, in the 2023-24 season.

Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, after winning the one-off Test against England in Navi Mumbai | Photo Credit: Sportzpics for BCCI

“We didn’t get too many opportunities in the Test format when we were playing cricket, but hopefully, the new generation will get many more games. We have a busy schedule in the T20Is and ODIs, but Tests are actually a format that teaches you patience and gives a chance to improve your skills,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after her first game as Test skipper. She led the team to a thumping 347-run win over archrival England in the one-off Test in Navi Mumbai this month.

Where has one heard this call for more Tests before?

Oh yes, after the remarkable draw against England in Bristol and the same result against Australia in the Pink Ball Test in Carrara, both in 2021. Op-eds, interview quotes, and analysis pieces of a similar vein came around once more after England drew South Africa in a lone Test in 2022. The conversation for more Test cricket in the women’s game sometimes feels like a disc running in a broken record player, gratingly stuck in the same spot.

A big-three exclusive?

How practical is a call for more red-ball cricket in the women’s international ecosystem?

“If you look at the larger picture, it’s only Australia, England, and India playing because these are the boards with the resources to do so. Having said that, none of us have domestic cricket for the longest version of the game. To expect Test cricket to grow, it needs to return at the domestic level,” former India captain Shubhangi Kulkarni points out.

“Australia and England play for historical reasons. India has always wanted to play Test cricket, and despite getting few games, it usually does well at it. From sponsorship to spectators and TV coverage, I don’t know if there’s as much of an appetite for Test cricket as compared to the shorter formats. But it can always be built, and a way to do that is by getting it back at the domestic level,” the seasoned administrator adds.

After struggling to acclimatise adequately to the pressures of Test cricket in the unforgiving heat and humidity of Navi Mumbai, England skipper Heather Knight said this: “Maybe if we had a two- or three-match series, we’d be able to use these lessons and get better.”

That suggestion makes former India women’s coach and veteran cricketer WV Raman smile.

“I am sure that even the solitary Test played is happening after a lot of conversations back and forth. If we get anything more than a single Test, and if we get a two- or three-match series, I will be incredibly surprised. That can only happen if more than three or four countries want this for the game. Otherwise, allegations of just these top countries getting everything will understandably crop up.”

Inability to adapt: England was undone by “super extreme” conditions in its Test defeat by India, said captain Heather Knight (middle). | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

From domestic to international

Kulkarni belongs to an era where Tests were part and parcel of the experience of international cricket. She was the first Indian woman to score a half-century and take five wickets in a single Test, a feat Deepti Sharma emulated against England in the recently concluded Test. However, as an administrator, she sees merit in going the white-ball way when the first task is to popularise the game as widely as possible.

“When I was in the ICC Women’s Committee, before the merger with the ICC, a lot of Tests were played, but when women’s cricket came under the ICC, T20s and ODIs became the priority. That move is helping the game grow, so when authorities make decisions, they look at data points, economics, and more. Sponsorship, affordability, and coverage will all be important points,” she explains.

It’s easy to see the parallels in England, which, along with Australia, has pioneered how women’s cricket is promoted, with offerings like The Hundred.

“We’re seeing the Hundred; we have T10. People are going shorter and shorter with game formats as well. So how is that surge balanced with this need to revive and maintain Test cricket is one we’ll have to watch out for,” she adds.

Before the lone Test, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said that domestic structures follow the demands of the international scene. With white-ball cricket being the order of business, the choice trickles down to the grassroots.

“To be fair, the domestic structure was formed based on one-day and T20 because those are the World Cups that are frequent at the international level. I’ve just played four Tests in 10 odd years of international cricket. Maybe we’ll see a new tournament at the domestic level. But the domestic scene will change itself according to what the international demands are,” Mandhana had said before the game.

Both Raman and Kulkarni believe that the domestic scene can set the pace.

“We have been proposing a two-day tournament at the inter-zonal level, which gives an opportunity to at least 15 girls from each zone. So 75 girls at least get a taste of the longest version of the game, which will definitely help fine-tune basic skills in the format,” Kulkarni explains.

“At the domestic level, red-ball cricket can come up at the junior or age group levels so that you’re not thrown into the deep end when the format comes up later in your career, as is the case with the U16 boys, who get a feel for it early on. A good phase for more red-ball cricket is the U23 phase. They’d be stronger physically; they would have had an idea of the two-day format at the U16 level and white-ball cricket. And they would be able to fine-tune their game better. With the advent of the Women’s Premier League, we will have more kids taking up cricket and white-ball cricket. Playing all formats should be done to fit a purpose, rather than blindly making all formats available. A balance is key,” Raman states.

Pressure of expectations

Before one knows it, India plays another red-ball fixture against Alyssa Healy-led Australia. The Aussies play their 78th Test fixture against an Indian side that has shown great promise in the last three Tests it has played, all in the last two years. While the tape will play a similar tune at the end of that exercise around December 24, a tussle between two great rivals awaits, with a lesser-experienced India going in with a marginal upper hand.

Shubha Satheesh | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

“With these results fresh in the mind, pressure is on India, particularly because you’re playing at home. The girls have created expectations. People are used to seeing you doing that well—a pressure Australia knows too well,” Raman concludes.