Why England Women’s cancelled Caribbean Test was ultimately about money

The move means a second women’s Test set to be played in the Caribbean has been cancelled in succession. The last time West Indies women played a Test match was in 2004, but they were scheduled to play three in the current Future Tours Programme. The first was marked for earlier this year against Australia, but was called-off just weeks before it was supposed to happen. That decision was made mostly at the behest of Cricket West Indies, citing the need to “maximise white-ball readiness” ahead of the T20 World Cup.

While the cancellation of that Test match had also cast doubt on whether the Test against England would happen – and whether it would be in the best financial and performance interest of West Indies – there were positive signs that next year’s game would go ahead.

There is no women’s ICC tournament in the schedule for more than a year after England’s tour of West Indies, leaving space in international priorities for a one-off Test match. Even more promising was an indication from ECB chair Richard Thompson, that the board could look to help CWI with funding the Test match, given the intense financial difficulties of hosting bilateral international cricket in the Caribbean.

Speaking to Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly podcast last month, CWI CEO Chris Dehring said: “Any assistance that the ECB might be willing to help offset costs of hosting these kinds of tournaments would be most welcome, because we do want to play more and more women's Test cricket, more women's one-day internationals and so on... We intend to play that Test match, and hopefully we'll be able to find the resources to accomplish that.”

Even more promising were the priorities of England ahead of a home Ashes series next year. Head coach Charlotte Edwards had publicly stated the need to prioritise red-ball skills ahead of the series, after her side were thumped by India in a one-off Test at Lord’s last summer. The Ashes Test carries significant weight in the multi-format points system, and no side who has ever lost the Test has gone on to win the series. The West Indies Test was an opportunity to further practice red-ball skills in a competitive setting ahead of that series – an opportunity Australia do not have in the current schedule.

Nevertheless, England have instead chosen to forgo the Test match in favour of three internal best vs best matches. A statement from the ECB read: “With the current domestic structure unable to afford many opportunities for players to experience multi-day red-ball cricket, England Women’s management have focused on finding the best outcome to ensure that the team are as well-prepared as possible for the challenge of facing Australia across four days next summer.”

In a statement provided to Wisden, Miles Bascombe said of the decision: “The ECB proposed replacing the Test with home red-ball preparation ahead of next summer’s Ashes, and we agreed. Schedules are built together and have to meet the needs of both boards. It’s England’s Ashes campaign and their call on how best to prepare for it, and we understood the reasoning.”

Beyond Ashes prep, however, the cancellation of this particular Test match highlights the financial struggle at the heart of the women’s international game.

“Finance wasn’t the deciding factor here,” said Bascombe. “But in the current financial climate it is part of every scheduling conversation we have, and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise.

“Women’s Tests aren’t part of any ICC competition, so each one has to be agreed between two boards that both want it and can make it work. For us, a Test is an aspiration rather than a requirement, but an important one. Exposure to the longest format has real developmental value for our players and lasting value for the women’s game in the region. We will keep pursuing it where the opportunity is right.”

Women’s Test matches are rarely competitive, even between the nations that play them the most. Of the four women’s Tests which have been played during the current FTP, the closest in terms of winning margin was 270 runs – the match between India and England at Lord’s last summer. Against a team like West Indies, who haven’t played women’s Tests for 22 years and, like almost all, don’t play any domestic red ball cricket, the polarity of competition would likely be even more stark.

India have recorded a historic 270-run victory over England in the first-ever women’s Test at Lord’s, inspired by Yastika Bhatia’s century and Kranti Gaud’s five-wicket haul 🇮🇳 #ENGvIND https://t.co/U7a3Fx7W7F

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 13, 2026

Yet, if this Test had been scheduled for the same time against India or Australia, it’s hard to imagine England pulling out in favour of intra-squad practice. At least in part, there’s a subtext that West Indies are not seen as good enough preparation for the Ashes to warrant playing a full Test that overlaps with the domestic season in England, over the opportunity for internal red-ball prep.

What’s holding back the development of women’s cricket in the Caribbean, and growing the performance gap between West Indies and the likes of England, India and Australia, is the financial difficulties facing CWI. The board announced that it was scrapping the women’s T20 Blaze two months ago, as well as the men’s Super50 domestic tournament. Quite simply, they can barely afford to play any professional cricket.

England Women’s stance on playing bilateral international cricket outside of marquee series should also be questioned. They didn’t play a single bilateral series last winter, instead putting on a series of training camps and intra-squad matches. This winter, they will play their Women’s Championship matches against Sri Lanka, as well as T20Is in preparation for the Champions Trophy. The series against West Indies will be only their second overseas bilateral series since the 2025 Ashes.

In short, they play the bare minimum overseas series. They’re not alone – Cricket Australia opted to scrap their T20I series against Bangladesh when the rescheduling of the Champions Trophy disrupted their schedule, prioritising their series against New Zealand. If less financially powerful nations are consistently denied the opportunity to play meaningful series against the elites, the performance gap between them will never close. It’s a vicious circle. Teams are not viewed as good enough to warrant playing against, yet the only way they will become good enough in the long-term is to play more.

Players consistently have advocated for more women’s Tests, and more were put in the current FTP than have been before. But if women’s Test cricket, and international cricket as a whole, is to become a more competitive product, it actually has to be played. What’s the point in England becoming the best women’s Test team in the world, if that translates into winning one Test match every other year?

Playing a one-off Test against West Indies wouldn’t on its own have fixed this. But committing to playing more bilateral matches, despite a crowded franchise schedule and conflicting financial and performance interests, is the only way to guarantee the health of the women’s game.

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