Haynes forecasts aggression in pivotal Ashes Test

Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes says a new-look schedule for the multi-format women's Ashes might "challenge some mindsets" and encourage both teams to go on the attack in their one-off Test in Canberra this summer.

This season's Ashes will begin with a Test match at Manuka Oval before three T20s and three ODIs, a change of structure from the past three Ashes campaigns where the ODIs have been played first, the Test second and the T20s third.

With the winner of the Test awarded four points compared to two points each for a win in the white-ball games, recent Ashes Tests – which are played over four days instead of five – have been sluggish affairs. The past two have been drawn games, with both teams sometimes playing conservatively as they looked to deny their opponent a victory that is normally pivotal in deciding who lifts the Ashes trophy.

In 2019, Australia swept the ODI series 3-0 to start the Ashes campaign, meaning they already held a lead of six points to nil and had little incentive to push for a result in the Test match that followed.

The change to this summer's schedule has been partly circumstantial; with the ODI World Cup to immediately follow the Ashes, Haynes said it makes sense to play the ODI portion of the series last.

But she added holding the Test match first could lead to both teams playing more aggressively and change the tone of the whole series.

"It might challenge some mindsets (because) if you end up not winning that match, it might be tough to come back from (and win the series)," she told cricket.com.au.

"It could potentially change the tempo of how the series is played.

"Because we don't play a lot of Test match cricket, I think at times both sides are a little bit unsure about how hard to go at different points in the game. Getting more exposure to Test match cricket will probably help address that.

"But it's a fair point – being first up, perhaps we'll see teams be a little bit more aggressive and if they do get the upper hand during the match, maybe they will really go for the win and make it really tough for the opposition to come back (into the series)."

Haynes added the likely addition of a Test match against India to start the summer, the first time Australia's women's team will play two Tests in the same season in almost two decades, could allow them to get into the groove of the longer format and lead to more expansive cricket.

The first two multi-formats women's Ashes series in 2013 and 2013-14 opened with a Test match worth six points, meaning the victor would be red hot favourites to take out the series.

Skipper Meg Lanning says the reduction to four points means the series stays alive for longer, but added winning the Test can be pivotal to the result of the series.

"I think with it now being four points, it keeps teams in the series, which is really important for the players and fans to keep the competition going," Lanning said in Melbourne.

"But it'd certainly give you a pretty big leg-up early on if you can get the win, so we'll certainly be going out there to try and win that Test match. That's the nature of how we play; we want to be competitive and really aggressive."

Haynes also welcomed the two standalone games at the Adelaide Oval this summer, a shift away from the recent trend for the national women's team playing at smaller venues.

It'll be the first time the Aussie women have played at the 50,000-capacity venue since 2017, but Haynes said the record crowds at last year's T20 World Cup shows that the world champions can draw a big crowd in their own right and may soon outgrow the boutique grounds like North Sydney Oval and Allan Border Field.

"More and more Australians know the team, they follow the team and I think we deserve to play the games at those venues," Haynes said.

"I think it'll be really cool to see that grow over not just this summer, but the summers to come as well.

"I think it's something we'd like to see more of, to be honest. I think we've shown in that T20 World Cup that people do want to come and see us play and I think we're getting to the point where we are starting to outgrow some of those boutique venues."