England unhappy at used pitch for India Test showdown

The England and Wales Cricket Board has apologised to its women's team after failing to organise a fresh pitch for the first Test in seven years between England and India, leaving captain Heather Knight disgruntled.

England and India have not played each other across four days since 2014, but will meet at Bristol's County Ground on Wednesday (8pm AEST on Fox Cricket and Kayo) to kick off Knight's side's summer.

The red ball has been on the periphery of the women's cricketing calendar, with just eight Tests worldwide since 2011, and the upcoming game will be played on the same wicket used last week for a T20 Blast match despite efforts from the England camp to change the strip.

"I've had a look (at the pitch), it is a used wicket," Knight said.

"It was used for a Gloucestershire T20 match last week, which I guess obviously isn't ideal. We would much prefer to be on a fresh one but it is what it is and we don't know how it's going to play necessarily.

"Obviously slightly different with it being used, but we're confident we've got the squad and the XI that we're going to pick to win this Test match."

It is not the first time attention has been drawn to the 22-yard strip. Before an Ashes Test match at Taunton, England had to play the first women's Test to be broadcast live on a pitch used for New Zealand against Afghanistan 40 days before.

On that occasion, the pitch was sluggish, scoring became increasingly difficult for a number of players and spin became an important factor, and this time the recently-used strip at Bristol could throw up the same problems.

"I guess at Taunton there was a lot of talk about the pitch and it didn't actually do too much, so we're going to have to wait and see and see how it plays," Knight added.

"Obviously I'd much prefer to be playing on a fresh wicket, but it is what it is.

India and England will each play two Test matches this summer, with both teams to meet Meg Lanning's Australia next summer, and Knight expects a difficult challenge from the visitors, despite their even more limited experience in the format.

"I imagine their attack will be reasonably spin heavy and we've been preparing for that," Knight said. "And they've got some world-class batters that we're going to have to have very clear plans against."

India skipper Mithali Raj said of the wicket: "Firstly, we are here to play a match. Whatever strip we get we will try and get a result out of it, and that's the thought process.

"Whether it is a used wicket or a fresh wicket, as players and as captain I'm there to support my team to get a result and for that it is important that we follow our strategies accordingly."

An ECB spokesperson said: "We are all disappointed that the wicket for the Test match against India will have had 37 overs played on it. We know that England Women deserve a fresh wicket and we are sorry that we were unable to provide that in this instance.

"With the Test only being added to the calendar in mid-April, coupled with the lack of available first-class grounds, we knew a fresh TV pitch was going to be a challenge. We accept that this issue shouldn’t have arisen and we will make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.

"With the exception of Hove – the venue for the second T20, for which a hybrid wicket will be used – all other white-ball matches against India will be played on fresh wickets including the opening ODI at Bristol on the 27th June."

Australia will host both their Tests at venues that have previously hosted men's Test cricket, and will meet India at the WACA in a day-night Test in October, while the Ashes Test will be played at Canberra's Manuka Oval later in the summer.