Australian all-rounder Jess Jonassen brought attention to this deficiency in an interview conducted after the rain delay of the Women’s Hundred 2024 match between the Northern Superchargers Women and the Welsh Fire Women.
Since its start, women’s cricket has seen tremendous change, highlighted by ongoing breakthroughs and important turning points. An increasing number of competitions have been added to the schedule for the sport, which has further encouraged its growth. Nonetheless, a crucial aspect that still needs focus is the further incorporation of Test cricket into the women’s division.
Openly declaring that the longest version of the game was her absolute favourite, Jonassen also expressed her wish to play more Test cricket. She expressed that, in her opinion, nothing was more satisfying than dressing in traditional whites and fighting the red cherry in the traditional manner—either with a bat or a ball.
“My favourite format of cricket is test matches. I’d really like to play it a lot more. In an interview with Sky Sports, Jonassen said, “There’s nothing better than putting on the whites and facing the red ball or bowling with the red ball,” as cited by Female Cricket.
Jess Jonassen conveyed her deep gratitude for the chance to witness the Australia Women win the five-day Ashes Test in Nottingham in 2023 by a margin of 89 runs.
She remarked how much she enjoyed these kinds of matches and how much she hoped to see more of them in the future. She also expressed her desire to compete against a wider variety of countries instead of being limited to a small number.
“I had a great time participating in a five-day Test match during the most recent Ashes series. I believe I’d love to be able to play in Test match cricket against a lot more nations, and I’d want to see more of it,” Jonassen continued.
In response to the previously raised complaint, she gave the examples of Kiwi icons Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, saying it was “almost criminal” for them to have finished their careers without having played in a Test match. She argued in favour of expanding the format to additional nations than just the current players (South Africa, Australia, England, and India), who are now the only countries connected to the game’s longest version.
“It’s almost criminal that players like Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine in New Zealand could retire and never play in a Test match,” said Jonassen.
In addition, Jonassen advocated for the inclusion of domestic women’s red-ball cricket matches and stated that Australia and other countries should take inspiration from the Indian cricket system as it currently stands. She underlined the benefits of having prior experience playing Test matches as opposed to picking up abilities on the fly.
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“I wish it were available domestically in some way. When you do have the chance to play in an international Test match, you should make sure you’ve had the experience and aren’t trying to pick things up on the fly, Jonassen continued.
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