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Women's Ashes Test a raging success

Fans consume more than four million minutes of live action as day-night Test generates significant social media interest

The raging success of the first-ever day-night Ashes Test has been laid bare by some record-breaking broadcast and social media figures from a memorable clash at North Sydney Oval.

After four entertaining days in the Harbour City, Australia's one-off Test against England ended in a draw that has kept the multi-format Ashes series alive heading into the T20 series.

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And while the 12,674 fans who came to the picturesque venue underlined the growth of the women's game, the number of people who tuned in to watch the match was also impressive.

More than 4 million minutes of action was live streamed on the Cricket Network, via cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, with more than 220,000 Australians logging on to watch the match live.

And that was just in Australia; BT Sports broadcast the game on one of their channels for fans in the UK, while the game was also live streamed into India via SonyLiv.

World-class broadcast of day-night Test

The broadcast was of a higher quality than anything Cricket Network had produced in the past. Shot in High Definition from 10 cameras, including a super slow-motion camera, it allowed every ball to be captured from every angle. Viewers also got to listen to four world-class commentators - Lisa Sthalekar, Mel Jones, Charlotte Edwards and Isa Guha who have a combined experience of 53 Tests and have played a part in the past 10 Women's Ashes series.

There was also strong engagement from fans on social media, with more than 3 million video views across Cricket Network's Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter pages.

Unsurprisingly, player-of-the-match Ellyse Perry was a favourite on social media; a single Facebook post re-living the moment she brought up her historic double-century was viewed by more than 400,000 people, while an Instagram post celebrating her achievement was @cricketcomau's most-popular post ever, attracting more than 30,000 likes.


Amanda-Jade Wellington's brilliant delivery on the final day was also a huge success and was one of the week's most popular videos on cricket.com.au with almost 50,000 views. All up, Wellington's wicket was watched more than 400,000 times across Cricket Network’s channels.

Wellington's ripping leggie does for Beaumont

"Cricket Australia was thrilled to be able to bring this historic event to our fans across the world," said Cricket Australia's Head of Digital Finn Bradshaw.

"A special thanks goes to our partner Commonwealth Bank which, by being such strong supporters of this project, really delivered on their strategy of 'levelling the playing field'.

"I’d also like to give a shout out to the commentary team who brought fantastic passion, insight and chemistry to the production."

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes

Australia lead England 4-2

Australia T20 squad: Sarah Aley, Alex Blackwell, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes (c), Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington.

England squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt.

Schedule


First ODI Australia won by two wickets

Second ODI Australia won by 75 runs (DLS method)

Third ODI England won by 20 runs (DLS method)

Day-Night Test Match drawn

First T20 North Sydney Oval, November 17

North Sydney Charity Partner: McGrath Foundation

Second T20 Manuka Oval, November 19

Third T20 Manuka Oval, November 21

Canberra Charity Partner: Lord's Taverners ACT