Women's summer schedule revealed

Charlotte Edwards is aiming to hold the World Cup, World Twenty20 and the Ashes

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The England and Wales Cricket Board today announced the international match schedule for the reigning world champions, the England women’s team, for the 2009 season.

Fresh on the back of their victory in Australia where they won the World Cup for the third time in its history, the squad is now back in training for the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 which runs from June 8-21 2009.

The group stages will be played in Taunton while, in an unprecedented move by the ICC, the semi-finals and final will be held on the same day at the same venue and the same ticket as the men’s equivalent.

Following the conclusion of the World Twenty20, England take on Australia in a one-off NatWest Women’s International Twenty20 at Derby CCC on June 25, as a curtain-raiser to Derbyshire Phantoms’ Twenty20 game against Lancashire Lightning. The match will be televised live on Sky Sports.

Five NatWest Women’s one-day internationals follow against the same opposition at venues across the country including Essex CCC, Stratford CC, Lord’s and Wormsley CC, the famous Getty cricket pitch, with the two matches at Essex CCC both televised live on Sky.

The four-day npower Women’s Ashes Test match concludes the international summer for England women which will be played at Worcestershire CCC from July 10.

ECB head of women’s cricket Clare Connor said: “The 2009 international summer gives this England squad further opportunity to showcase why they are world champions.

Clare Connor, who led England to an Ashes triumph in 2005, is excited about this summer

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“The England team has never played such an intense amount of cricket and the players are loving every moment. They have only been back from Australia for two weeks and eight of them trained for six hours yesterday - certainly no signs of complacency after the euphoric World Cup experience.

“The girls love playing Australia and the tourists will certainly have a point to prove having been relegated to fourth in the ODI world rankings as a result of the World Cup.

“I'm sure we can expect them to fight back on English soil, especially with the added prize of the Ashes up for grabs.

“With three matches live on Sky Sports in the first week of this series against Australia, we have the opportunity to keep momentum going in terms of exposure for the game; I'm sure the players will relish the challenge of responding to the ongoing, vacuous debate as to whether women's team sports are entertaining enough or not. I for one can't wait to see our World Champions back in action."

NatWest Women's International Twenty20

NatWest Women's Series

npower Women's Ashes Test Match