Further Test matches written into inaugural women's Future Tours Programme

Every Test involves at least one of England or Australia, but the show of commitment to the longest format from Cricket Australia – who have four lined up in the next period – comes as a boost to the game

England will play Tests against Australia, India and South Africa under the terms of the inaugural women's Future Tours Programme outlined by the ICC up to the 2025 World Cup.

In total, seven Tests – including the draw earlier this summer between England and South Africa – have been set out in the three-year schedule, which features 10 nations and more than 300 matches.

Wasim Khan, the ICC's general manager, described its release as "a huge moment for the women's game".

He added: "This FTP not only lends certainty to future cricket tours but also sets the base for a structure that is sure to grow in the coming years."

Every Test involves at least one of England or Australia, but the show of commitment to the longest format from Cricket Australia – who have four lined up in the next period – comes as a boost to the game, with India and South Africa both set to host Tests in the next three years.

England's next Test – having hosted South Africa this summer and drawn with Australia in January – is scheduled for the summer of 2023 at the centre of the multiformat Ashes series, though there is no word from the ICC on whether that match will be played over five days, as has been pushed for by many within the women's game. There has not been a positive result in a women's Test since 2015, and there are no multi-Test series in the new programme.

^{England and Australia played out a thrilling draw in January (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)}

The 2025 women's Ashes series has been earmarked as a standalone contest, with the corresponding men's edition taking place much later in the year.

In late 2023, England face India, playing a multiday match in India for the first time since drawing in 2005 at Delhi, before India host Australia in a Test a month later.

In 2024, England will go through their first home non-pandemic summer without a Test since 2018, with New Zealand – the first of two visitors between June and July – not primed for a single Test on the current programme. Off-spinner Frances Mackay responded to the schedule by calling on New Zealand Cricket to "let them play", while seven years ago Suzie Bates admitted to feeling "a bit cheated" at never having had the chance to play Test cricket. Their most recent Test came in 2004 on the occasion of Katherine Brunt's international debut.

England are set to travel to South Africa in the winter of 2024 for a Test for the first time since 1961, three months after a white-ball tour of Ireland in September.

That is one of two Tests scheduled for the Proteas in 2024, with a series in Australia in March due to feature the first women's Test between the countries.

All bilateral ODI series as part of the ICC Women's Championships have been set for three games, though they are accompanied by several five-match T20I series.

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