There’s a new addition to the cricket history books, with the Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG seeing attendance records broken, a 75-year drought gone and four new names added among the greats.
The Women’s Ashes Test – held at the MCG from January 30 to February 1 this year saw Australia claim an empathic win over rivals England, retain the Women’s Ashes urn and claim a clean sweep of the 2025 Ashes Series.
The last Women’s Test match at the MCG was played in January 1949 between Australia and England, with the match finishing in a draw. Since then, Women’s Test cricket has been absent from the MCG schedule – until last week when the women’s version of the traditional format of the game returned to the People’s Ground.
75-years in the making, this Test also broke a world record for a Women’s Test match attendance. The previous record of 23,207 - set during the five-day Test at Trent Bridge in 2023 - was broken on Day 2, with the total attendance at the end of play on Day 3 finishing at 35,365 – over 12,000 higher than the previous record.
On the field, Australia dominated the Test from the beginning – keeping the England batters to low scores in England’s first innings, with Nat Sciver-Brunt top scorer for the visitors with 51 runs from 129 balls. As the final wickets of the first innings toppled, Australia’s Alana King fell agonisingly short of five-wicket haul, finishing with 4/45.
Australia’ batting innings, chasing England’s 170, saw history made. With Elyse Perry down the batting order due to a hip injury sustained while attempting to stop a ball going over the boundary for four in the field, young gun Annabel Sutherland stood up to the English attack and broke a 90-year drought.
With a score of 163 from 258 balls, Sutherland’s century saw her become the very first female cricketer on the MCG Honour Boards for batting – and the first female addition to any board since 1935.
Australia’s batting success continued, with wicket-keeper Beth Mooney batting out an impressive 106 from 73 balls, making her the first Australian to claim centuries in all three formats of the game at the international level.
Despite Australia’s dominance with the bat, one England player stood out - bowler Sophie Ecclestone, who claimed a five-wicket haul at 5/143. Ecclestone’s figures saw her become the first female cricketer from a visiting side added to the MCG Honour Boards.
With a deficit of 270 runs, England returned to the crease with a huge task ahead. Despite early resistance from opener Tammy Beaumont (47 runs from 124 balls) the Australian bowlers – led by King and Ashleigh Gardner – tore through the batting line-up, bowling England out for 148 and sealing the win for Australia. King claimed her five-wicket haul that she was agonisingly short of in the first innings, finishing with 5/53.
The four names etched into the history books – Australia’s Annabel Sutherland (163), Beth Mooney (106) and Alana King (5/53) and England’s Sophie Ecclestone (5/143) were all added to the MCG Honour Boards.
Located in the change rooms of the home and away teams, these Honour Boards previously held the names of just one female – Peggy Antonio – who claimed 6/49 in the very first Women’s Test match at the MCG back in 1935.
These four additions see Sutherland, Mooney, King and Ecclestone etched in history alongside name such as Bradman, Ponting, Warne and Bumrah.
The Test win sees Australia claim a series clean sweep and retain the Women’s Ashes urn.
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