Heather Knight called on England to give players a stronger Test grounding after their dismal run continued with a thumping loss against India.
Knight and Tammy Beaumont, who are both 35, retired after England lost the first women’s Test to be played at Lord’s.
The end of that long wait gave this match a celebratory feel, with former players paraded and a record crowd in attendance, but England’s performance led to questions about how seriously the longer format is taken – not least because some players were rested after the rigours of the T20 World Cup.
India’s 270-run victory represented England’s fourth defeat in five Tests, and extended their winless run in the format at home to 21 years, dating back to the 2005 Ashes.
England rarely play Tests. This was their first since January 2025 and they do not have another booked until April 2027. It was only Knight’s 15th in a 16-year international career.
But when they do play Tests, they are normally highly consequential; for instance, the single Test accounts for a quarter of all points available in a multi-format Ashes series. Next summer, the Women’s Ashes will open with a Test at Headingley.
Knight pointed to the fact that after months of white-ball cricket, England had just two days of training between the World Cup final at Lord’s and this match, while India – knocked out of the event earlier – had more time. England now have a fully professional eight-team county structure, but it does not feature any cricket of longer than 50 overs.
“It is tricky to go from a T20 World Cup to having two days to prepare your skills as a cricketer,” Knight said. “I’ve always said that I’d love to see some domestic red-ball cricket. I think it would be a massive development tool as well. As cricketers, we learn so much when we do play Test matches. When we have a proper build-up, you learn about the game, how to repeat, how to sustain concentration and the mental side of it for long periods of time.
“So, I don’t know how it fits in or where it fits in. That is for the people above me to decide. But I would certainly love to keep some domestic red-ball cricket, even if it’s a couple of games that involve the best cricketers.
“I do think that it would help us develop better white-ball cricketers as well. It gives you the basis and the skills that are your fundamentals, that you need in white-ball cricket as well.
“I certainly would love a little more preparation than two days in the nets. You saw that with India, who had a bit more time to prepare. I thought they played brilliantly.”
Knight fears the situation could get even worse as young players focus on the shorter forms of the game, which are extremely lucrative, with top players such as Dani Gibson earning £190,000 in the Hundred this year.
“When I was a kid, it was hammered into me to value my wicket,” Knight said. “Now, the girls coming in have grown up on T20. I think even 50-over stuff, a lot of our younger cricketers are better at T20 than 50-over cricket, and they have to learn that side of it.
“I certainly really valued playing red-ball cricket, and I wouldn’t want to see a world where it’s not in the women’s game. I know that all the girls in the dressing room really love it and feel that way.”
Charlotte Edwards, the England coach, said she would also be pushing for domestic red-ball cricket.
“We need to see it in tier-one cricket, even if it’s two or three games a summer,” she said. “It’s exposure for younger and older players as we continue to play Test cricket.
“I believe there is a place for it [Test cricket], but it has to be part of a multi-format bilateral series. That is something to look at. We enjoy Test cricket, but we have to have it constantly. You can’t play every 18 months and expect performances, especially when there’s no preparation for it. I am a huge advocate of it. A lot of my planning for next summer’s Ashes will be around four-day cricket and making sure we are in a place in the Test against the Aussies to compete.”
On the fourth and final day of this fixture, India made light work of picking up the last four England wickets to wrap up a massive win. The India team had been addressed by Sachin Tendulkar before play, and their victory – the biggest by runs from a visiting team in a women’s Test in England – was celebrated by a strong contingent of supporters in the grandstand.