Captains in concert on steps for more women’s Tests

Flexibility and high-quality pitches will be the key to encouraging more women's Test cricket, according to both Australia skipper Meg Lanning and her English counterpart Heather Knight.

The thrilling finale to the one-off Ashes Test has again sparked calls for more regular red-ball cricket in the women's game, debate around how best that can be achieved, and whether matches should be extended to five days.

Lanning said on Wednesday she believed four-day matches were long enough, provided they were played on top-quality wickets, and that extra time or a reserve day to cover for rain-affected matches should be investigated.

"I do think (four days) is enough … it does promote good scoring rates," Lanning said.

"The difficult part is the last few Test matches, weather has played a big role.

"Whether you get to a point with the weather where if you lose a certain amount of time, trigger a fifth day or something like that.

"We've seen a lot of these players within the side have played a few Tests now, and they've started to get the hang of it and understand a bit more."

Presently, it is not clear when Australia will next host a Test, and as it stands, their next appearance in the format could be the next Ashes in the United Kingdom in mid-2023.

The ICC has yet to confirm the schedule for the next cycle of the Women's ODI Championship – the quadrennial round-robin competition which provides structure to the women's touring program – and until that is revealed, it remains unclear who Australia will host next summer, and thus, whether a Test may be viable.

However, England – who have locked in South Africa as an opponent early in the northern summer outside of the Championship program – are likely to host the Proteas in a Test.

Knight said the flexibility to choose between four or five days could be important when it came to encouraging nations outside of Australia, England and India to hold red-ball matches.

"Boards should have the choice to decide … if you want to play five days in an Ashes Test match, where the result is a little bit more important, then definitely," Knight said.

"But if countries want to play Test cricket and the only option is four (days) then absolutely, that should be the case.

"What this Test match shows is if you get the right wicket it makes such a big difference."

Asked if there was a risk that the gap between the top four or five nations and the rest of the world would widen if only those high-ranked sides played regular Tests, Lanning said she felt a balance could be struck.

"I think there are a lot of positives that could come out the likes of South Africa and New Zealand playing in Test matches … that will grow over time, a couple of years ago (South Africa and New Zealand) wouldn't have said they were looking at that," the Australia captain said.

"We still need to make sure that cricket around the world is moving forward, and we're not leaving nations behind.

"But I think the ODI Women's Championship, and the fact that there's 10 teams in that now, will certainly help in terms of bringing those lower-ranked nations up, and allowing them to play cricket, which is the most important thing.

"I think we can get the balance right ... I think you can get some more Test matches up between the bigger nations, that's going to grow the game."

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes v England

Australia Ashes squad: Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Stella Campbell, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes (vc), Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland

England Ashes squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver (vc), Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt

Australia lead the multi-format series 6-4

Jan 20: Australia won by nine wickets

Jan 22: No Result

Jan 23: Match Abandoned without a ball bowled

Jan 27-30: Match Drawn

Feb 3: First ODI, Manuka Oval (D/N), 2.10pm AEDT

Feb 6: Second ODI, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

Feb 8: Third ODI, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT