For a stadium that has witnessed many cricket milestones and is considered the home of cricket, Lord’s has never hosted a women’s Test match.
England and India will be scripting history when the match starts on July 10, 2026. The fixture will take place 142 years after the ground hosted its first men’s test in 1884, signalling the end of a long-overdue wait that highlights the sport’s prolonged journey toward gender equality.
But how did this move come? In June 2023, when England played their last home test (at Trent Bridge), the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket published a scathing report, saying it was “truly appalling” that England had never played a women’s test at Lord’s. “The ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men,” the ICEC report said.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) operated as a men’s-only club for more than two centuries, which explains the absence of women’s test cricket at Lord’s. Women were not allowed to become MCC members until a membership vote in 1998, and female spectators were barred from entering the Pavilion during play until 1999.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint, an England legend, had campaigned for years before Lord’s agreed to host its first women’s international, a One-Day between England and Australia in 1976.
Half a century after that breakthrough, in 2026, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur will lead their teams onto the field from the Pavilion, marking a first milestone for women’s test cricket at the cathedral of cricket.
India won the most recent meeting between the two sides in the longest format by a staggering 347 runs, held in Navi Mumbai, India, in 2023.
Overall, the two teams have met 15 times in test cricket, with India winning 3 times, 11 draws, and England winning just once.
The biggest difference in women’s Test cricket is that a match is played over four days instead of five. A minimum of 100 overs have to be bowled in a day, and the follow-on mark is 150 instead of 200.
There have only been two five-day women’s tests to date — the 2023 Trent Bridge Ashes Test and the 2019 Ashes Test held at County Ground in Taunton.
It will be a historic milestone as both teams face off in the test match. Regardless of the result, it’ll be a major moment for women’s test cricket in general. The match begins at 11:00 AM BST and 3:30 PM IST.
