Ryana MacDonald-Gay seals place in England’s Test squad for Women’s Ashes

Ryana MacDonald-Gay has earned her place in England’s Women’s Ashes Test squad after making a successful debut in South Africa this month.

MacDonald-Gay, the 20-year-old seam bowler, has played two ODIs and one T20I after making her international debut on England’s tour of Ireland in September.

She impressed both captain Heather Knight and South Africa’s star allrounder Marizanne Kapp in taking 2 for 50 during South Africa’s first innings, though she was only required to bowl one over as the hosts were bowled out for 64 in a 286-run victory for England.

She joins allrounder Freya Kemp and left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who are both part of England’s T20 squad only, in earning maiden Ashes selections, along with wicketkeeper-batter Bess Heath, who returns from a fractured thumb which ruled her out of the South Africa tour and has been named as part of the T20 and Test squads. Fellow seam bowler Mahika Gaur will travel with the group as she continues her return to bowling from injury.

Though Lauren Bell took the match award against South Africa for her four wickets in each innings, MacDonald-Gay arguably made the critical breakthroughs in the first innings, as she struck twice with the old ball – first, to break Kapp’s 99-run stand with Sune Luus, and then to dismiss the dangerous Nadine de Klerk for a duck.

MacDonald-Gay had not previously played any professional red-ball cricket prior to her elevation to the Test team, as a replacement for the injured Kate Cross. Jon Lewis, England Women’s head coach, admitted that her selection had been made on an assessment of her character, rather than any genuine insight into her abilities at Test level.

“It’s incredibly hard,” he said. “You’ve got to go with your cricket knowledge and your understanding of the person. Ryana’s got real steel in her character. She seems really unflappable at times and she’s really logical in how she thinks about a cricket match. She is able to see a task and go and do it.

“I’ve been involved in professional cricket for over 30 years now, so you’re backing your understanding of what you think cricketers can do. You’re putting your finger in the air a little bit, I’m not going to lie, like we did Lauren Filer in the Ashes Test last year. But what I would say is that Ryana, in time, will have the tools to play all formats and be a really good competitor for England.”

Maia Bouchier, who scored a century on Test debut in South Africa, was named in all three squads for the Ashes.

The hundred was Bouchier’s second in professional cricket, both of which have come for England. Despite making a duck in the second innings at Bloemfontein, Lewis said the confidence boost she’ll have taken from that experience will stand her in good stead across formats in Australia.

“It’s really important for Maia,” Lewis said. “She’s had some really big match-winning scores for us across this last period, so it’s great for her confidence. It was fascinating to watch how she prepared for a Test match, having never played a multi-day game before, and a really special day for her and her family when she got a hundred in the first innings there.

“She came down to earth with a bump in the second innings but, again, that’s brilliant learning for her, to understand the ebbs and flows of Test cricket and the different roles that you have to play throughout the game. She’s a really talented cricketer and I’m really hopeful that she can go to Australia and score some match-winning runs.”

England travel to Sydney on January 2 and will play a warm-up match against a Governor General’s XI on January 9 ahead of the multi-format Ashes series, consisting of three ODIs and three T20s, worth two points each, and a four-day Test, worth four points.

Lewis added: “We have named balanced squads for this Ashes series, with a good mix of youth and experience. Ashes series are always special. We want to go there, play our way, and are all excited about the challenges ahead.”

Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart will host the ODIs from January 12 before the T20Is in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide. The day-night Test at the MCG will close the multi-format series for the first time since it was introduced in 2015.

During the last Ashes, in England in 2023, Australia won the Test match, which opened the series at Trent Bridge, before England triumphed in both white-ball formats resulting in an eight-all draw overall.

England Women ODI squad: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England Women T20I squad: Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England Women Test squad: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

2025 Women’s Ashes schedule (UK dates and times)
CommBank Women’s Ashes ODI Series
11 January: North Sydney Oval, Sydney (11.30pm) 13 January: Junction Oval, Melbourne (11.05pm) 16 January: Bellerive Oval, Hobart (11.05pm)

CommBank Women’s Ashes IT20 Series
20 January: SCG, Sydney (8.40am) 23 January: Manuka Oval, Canberra (8.40am) 25 January: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (8.10am)

CommBank Women’s Ashes Test Match
30 January-2 February: MCG, Melbourne (3.30am)