ECB to stream England Women v India ODI series online

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that England Women’s One Day International series against India this summer will be streamed live via the official ECB YouTube channel.

All three Royal London Women’s ODI matches from the series to be held in August will be streamed live across the UK and around the world, free of charge, via youtube.com/ecbcricket.

The series forms part of the first phase of the new ICC’s Women’s Championship which has been created by the game’s governing body to act as a qualifying campaign for the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, with England Women starting their bid for qualification in August.

The ICC Women’s Championship involves the top eight ranked women’s teams, with results determining qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup to be held in England and Wales in 2017.  

All teams in the top eight will play each other in One Day Internationals at home or away over the next two and a half years to create an ICC Women’s Championship league table, with the top four teams qualifying automatically for the Women’s World Cup.

Charlotte Edwards and her England side will be hoping to set the early pace in the qualification phase when they take on a strong India side, with the action gets underway at Scarborough Cricket Club on Thursday, August 21 and Saturday, August 23, with the series culminating at Lord’s on Monday August 25.

The ECB first trialed live streaming of England Women’s matches last summer by broadcasting one of its One Day matches during last summer’s Women’s Ashes series against Australia.

During the winter, the one-day internationals from the return Ashes series were also streamed live on the web, courtesy of Cricket Australia.

ECB Head of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said: “The ICC Women’s Championship represents a significant step for the global development of the women’s game.

“For the first time, international women’s cricket will follow a long-term future tours programme to generate a meaningful ranking system to decide which countries qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup in England in 2017.

“It is hoped that the ICC WC will increase the profile and competitiveness of the women’s game outside of World Cup years, as it guarantees a regular and balanced programme of ODI cricket, with more countries involved than ever before.

“It is exciting that England Women will be involved in the first round of these matches and for them to be streamed live via the ECB’s YouTube channel allows cricket fans across the world to tune in and watch the action unfold.”

Ahead of the ODI series, England will start their international summer by taking on India in a Test match at Wormsley Cricket Ground from August 13-16, of which BBC Radio will be providing live ball-by-ball commentary of the Test via BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and online.

Then following the three ODIs against India, England will welcome South Africa women for a three match NatWest Twenty20 International series.

All of these three matches will be shown live on Sky Sports, with the third match on Sunday, September 7 being played before the men’s NatWest T20 International between England and India at Edgbaston.

The Essex County Ground in Chelmsford will host the first T20 on Monday, September 1 and the County Ground, Northampton, will be the venue for second game on Wednesday, September 3.

Sky Sports’ coverage of the England women’s team forms part of its extensive summer of live cricket, including England’s Test and limited overs series against India, plus domestic T20 and 50-over competitions.

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