England women to play first ever Twenty20 international

The English women's cricket team will make history when they take part in the first women's international Twenty20 match, against New Zealand at Hove on August 5. The ECB today announced the squad for the historic match, which is the same as that for the NatWest Women's Series and npower Test in August.

Nicky Shaw and Dawn Holden, both allrounders from Nottinghamshire, have earned recalls to the squad following a two-year absence from international cricket, as does Laura Spragg, from Yorkshire.

"These are exciting times, and playing New Zealand in three formats of the game will be great to watch," said Richard Bates, England's head coach. "Confidence is high and I'm sure this will be a very competitive series."

He added, "Competition for places has been strong with recent England performances making it difficult for others to push for a place. Nicky Shaw and Dawn Holden return to give further depth and options to our batting line up and with Laura Spragg back, all three offer variation and balance to our bowling attack."

A five-match one-day series will follow their opening Twenty20 game, with a Test match at Scarborough, starting on August 21, concluding the summer's international matches.

Clare Connor,the England and Sussex captain, is looking forward to the summer of cricket ahead and is delighted to be starting the season at Hove, her home ground. "Last year we played our first-ever floodlit match and this year will be the first ever international Twenty20," she said. "These matches are brilliant to be part of and we love playing in them. Plus they bring a new audience to women's cricket."

The NatWest Women's Series will be England's last before they head to South Africa in February 2005 for the Women's World Cup.

The dates for New Zealand women's tour are as follows:

August 5, Twenty20, Hove, Sussex CCC (5.40pm start)
August 6, 1st ODI, Hove, Sussex CCC (11am)
August 10, 2nd ODI, Chelmsford, Essex CCC (3.30pm day/night)
August 13, 3rd ODI, Northamptonshire CCC (11am)
August 15, 4th ODI, Derbyshire CCC (11am)
August 17, 5th ODI, Old Trafford, Lancashire CCC (11am)
August 21-24, npower Test match, Scarborough, Yorkshire CCC (11am)

England squad Clare Connor (capt), Charlotte Edwards, Rosalie Birch, Lydia Greenway, Isa Guha, Jenny Gunn, Dawn Holden, Laura Newton, Lucy Pearson, Nicky Shaw, Jane Smit, Laura Spragg, Claire Taylor, Clare Taylor.