Record crowd expected as Australia hunt Women’s Ashes sweep at MCG
Record crowd expected as Australia hunt Women’s Ashes sweep at MCG
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Hosts have won series but futures of England’s captain Knight and coach Lewis may hinge on Melbourne result. Cricket Australia is expecting a record-breaking turnout for the Women’s Ashes Test that starts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, with local fans excited by the possibility of the hosts sealing a 16-0 whitewash.
![[Australia captain Alyssa Healy holds a cricket bat and smiles wearing training kit.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/58bca70a3dd068e4738faa326a16f4dfb003e134/0_84_2593_1556/master/2593.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The record crowd for a women’s Test is 23,207, at Trent Bridge in 2023, but on Tuesday Cricket Australia’s CEO, Nick Hockley, confirmed they anticipate exceeding that in Melbourne this week. It is the first women’s Test at the MCG since 1949, and the first pink-ball day-night Test at the ground. Hockley said the historic week evoked memories of five years ago, when CA’s #FillTheMCG campaign saw 86,000 fans flood into the ground to watch the T20 World Cup final. “In 2020, we had that wonderful moment,” Hockley said. “This is picking up the momentum from that.”.
CA could scarcely have anticipated England’s drubbing in the white-ball matches when they scheduled this Test, but the one-sided nature of the contest has done little to dissuade fans from showing up. The white-ball matches cumulatively attracted almost 40,000 spectators, including more than 10,000 at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, making this the best attended bilateral women’s series in Australia – even before gates open at ‘the G’ on Thursday.
In theory this match is a dead rubber: in practice it is anything but. Australia, 12-0 ahead, are desperate to seal their supremacy, while England will be equally desperate to salvage pride from this wrecking-ball of a tour. The futures of England’s coach, Jon Lewis, and captain Heather Knight may hinge on the result.
