India women to play Test against England

India's women will play their first Test since 2006 after a four-day contest was pencilled into their tour of England in August.

In the women's game the Test format has been exclusively played by England and Australia since 2008; the last Test not involving one of those sides was when South Africa played Netherlands in 2007.

India's previous Test was also against England, at Taunton, when India won by five wickets. Anjum Chopra made 98 in the first innings then England collapsed to 99 all out as Jhulan Goswami took 5 for 33, before the home side hit back through a hundred by Charlotte Edwards to leave a target of 98. India slipped to 74 for 5 in the chase before securing the victory.

The Test is part of an itinerary that will also include three one-day internationals before England face South Africa in three Twenty20s. The third ODI will be played at Lord's on August 25 while the final T20 will be part of a double-header alongside the men's T20 between England and India at Edgbaston on September 7.

Clare Conner, the head of women's cricket for the ECB, said: "The recent Women's Ashes Test in Perth was a wonderful demonstration of women's cricket at its best, and I expect a similarly tight contest when England take on India at Wormsley in August.

"Last summer saw record numbers of spectators through the gates to watch England regain the Women's Ashes, and this year's international schedule presents a similarly exciting proposition for cricket fans up and down the country to see some of the best women's cricketers in the world in action."

Cricket South Africa were delighted to have been invited for three T20s which will all be televised live.

"This is excellent news not just for our national women's team but for all women's cricket in South Africa," Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said: "The privilege of our team competing in England in such a high profile series against one of the undoubted leaders in the women's game is setting new standards for our women's cricket.

"It is a well-deserved honour and shows the enormous strides we have been making and I am sure this news will inspire and motivate all our players on the eve of the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. Playing on the same famous international grounds as the England men's team will surely be a wonderful experience for our women's team."