England to face Australia in front of record crowd at Edgbaston in Women’s Ashes

Almost 15,500 tickets have been sold for the T20 clash on July 1.

A record women’s crowd is guaranteed at Edgbaston this summer (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Heather Knight’s England side are due to play in front of a record-breaking Edgbaston crowd during this summer’s Women’s Ashes, with almost 15,500 tickets sold for the T20 on July 1.

The 15,187 who came to Lord’s to watch last year’s ODI against India represented the largest ever English crowd for a women’s match outside of a World Cup, but a hotly-anticipated series against Australia has  set new levels of demand.

Tickets sales in Birmingham have already exceeded the previous high watermark, with the ground reaching over 75 per cent capacity more than three months before game day.

The match is the first of three 20-over contests, sandwiched between a five-day Test at Trent Bridge and three ODIs in a multi-format super-series that runs parallel with the men’s Ashes.

“The atmosphere at Edgbaston is always special, but the prospect of being cheered on by up to 20,000 fans is something else,” said England bowler Issy Wong, who players her domestic cricket for Central Sparks and Birmingham Phoenix.

“Obviously I’ll be doing everything I possibly can on the field and in training to be part of that Ashes squad. It would be a very proud moment to walk out in front of a record crowd at my home ground.”

Alex Perkins, sales and marketing director at Edgbaston, which is sold out for the first four days of the opening men’s Ashes Test, said: “Since going on sale last September, demand for our Women’s Ashes IT20 has been extremely high.

“For ticket sales to pass the previous women’s attendance record with three months still to go, all with paid-for tickets, is an incredible achievement and a reflection of the rapidly growing interest in women’s sport across the region.

“But we’re not done here. We want to break more records and the next ambition is to sell out Edgbaston.”