England v South Africa, Women's Test: All you need to know

Match dates and times, squads, TV and streaming information, odds and more ahead of the one-off Test in the multiformat series

What is it?

England are hosting South Africa in a one-off Test – the first time the countries have faced one another in red-ball cricket since 2003.

Where is it?

Taunton is staging the match – its second Test in three years, having been the venue for the Women's Ashes Test in 2019. It was also where England and South Africa played their last Test against each other – 19 years ago.

When is it?

The Test begins on Monday, July 27, with play each morning due to begin at 11am. Despite calls for the addition of a fifth day, it remains a four-day match.

What's on the line?

In recent years, in order to provide greater context to Tests that were previously one-off fixtures, women's Test matches have been added to multiformat series.

As when England took on India last year, the Test is the series-opener, with four points available for the winner and two for a draw. England have won none of their six most recent Tests, last coming out on top in 2014 in Perth.

There are subsequently two points on offer for the winner of each white-ball match, with England and South Africa set to do battle in three ODIs and three T20Is.

^{Katherine Brunt has retired from Test cricket (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)}

Who's involved?

As many as 15 players could make Test debuts across the two squads, with England naming five uncapped players in their 13-strong party for Taunton.

The Test retirement of Katherine Brunt and international retirement of Anya Shrubsole have opened the door for uncapped seamers Lauren Bell and Freya Davies, while Alice Davidson-Richards has been selected ahead of Georgia Elwiss, who performed the seam-bowling allrounder role when England drew with India last June.

Emma Lamb will open the batting alongside Tammy Beaumont; the Lancastrian has featured fledglingly in ODIs and T20Is but will make his Test bow at Taunton, while Charlie Dean has cemented her spot as England's second spinner alongside Sophie Ecclestone. Emily Arlott dropped out of the squad for Covid-19 related reasons two days before the Test, with travelling reserve Issy Wong taking her place.

For South Africa, only five of their squad have ever played Test cricket before, while Trisha Chetty is the only member of the travelling party with two caps.

Dane van Niekerk, the influential allrounder, remains sidelined with an ankle injury, with Sune Luus continuing as captain in her absence. Masabata Klaas, who picked up a shoulder problem at the World Cup earlier this year, is also unavailable. On the Sunday ahead of the Test, key seamers Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka, as well as vice-captain Chloe Tryon, were ruled out.

England squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver, Issy Wong

South Africa squad: Sune Luus (c), Anneke Bosch, Trisha Chetty (wk), Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Lizelle Lee, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Andrie Steyn, Laura Wolvaardt

^{Shabnim Ismail is part of a much-vaunted seam attack (Mark Tantrum/Getty Images)}

Where can I follow it?

Sky Sports are carrying live coverage of the Test across their various channels. Sky Sports Mix (Sky channel 416) will show the match from start to finish. You can also access the match sporadically on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.

BBC Radio Five Live will have ball-by-ball commentary of the Test, which can be accessed either via the BBC Sport website or the BBC Sounds app. The website will also carry regular clips from Taunton.

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