England Women A add four-day India fixture to Ashes preparations

England Women's A squad will play a four-day match in India as part of preparations for the 2027 Women's Ashes, BBC Sport reported. The newly announced tour brings together players with senior international experience and developing talent for a programme spanning all three formats during November and December.

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The schedule comprises three T20 matches, three 50-over games and the four-day fixture. The T20 series begins in Pune on 30 November, with the 50-over matches and red-ball game to follow at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. The longer-format contest gives England's touring players an additional opportunity to play multi-day cricket ahead of next summer's home Ashes.

Fast bowlers Issy Wong and Lauren Filer are selected across all three formats, alongside left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman. All-rounders Mady Villiers, Charis Pavely and Jodi Grewcock, wicketkeeper-batter Kira Chathli and seamer Grace Ballinger are also included in each squad. Ryana Macdonald-Gay features in both white-ball groups, while top-order batter Grace Scrivens is selected for the 50-over and four-day matches rather than the T20 leg.

Davina Perrin has been added to England's performance programme but will not travel on the A tour because she is recovering from injury, according to the BBC. Fast bowler Cassidy McCarthy is also part of the performance programme and will not make the trip. The touring squads therefore sit alongside a separate group of players included in England's wider development plans.

The tour comes during a gap in the senior team's international calendar. England finished their home summer with a 3-0 series victory over Ireland in September and have no further fixtures scheduled before Christmas. Their next programme includes three T20s and three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, although dates remain unconfirmed. The first Women's Champions Trophy, a T20 event, is scheduled for India in February, followed by a West Indies series in April that could include a Test.

The home Ashes will begin with a four-day Test at Headingley on 27 June. England are seeking to regain the trophy after losing the 2025 away series 16-0. Since that defeat, they reached the final of the Women's T20 World Cup under Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt, providing a different recent backdrop to the next contest with Australia.