The China Mail - England bowl against India in historic first women's Test at Lord's

After 142 years -- and 150 matches -- of men's Test cricket at the London ground, this four-day fixture represents another landmark in the evolution of a now fast-developing women's game.

This match is also taking place some 50 years after the first major women's match at Lord's, a one-day international between England and Australia.

Members of the England team that day gathered on the outfield Friday to ring the five-minute bell signalling the start of play.

Back in 1976, women cricketers were not allowed to walk through the Long Room of the pavilion and women were decades away from being allowed to become members of Marylebone Cricket Club, the owners of Lord's.

But it was a very different story Friday as the teams walked through the Long Room and onto the field to huge applause.

It is a measure of how times have changed that England were playing their second match at Lord's in under a week following a heavy loss to arch-rivals Australia in Sunday's T20 World Cup final -- with India having been knocked out of the tournament by the eventual champions in a group-stage game at Lord's.

And in something women cricketers of the amateur era could scarcely have imagined, by playing in this match India opening batter Smriti Mandhana became the youngest women to feature in 300 international games across all formats at the age of 29 years and 357 days.

Sciver-Brunt, explaining her decision to field first despite the hot and sunny conditions, said: "We're going to have a bowl. The most we can get out of the wicket with the bowlers is now. The sun is going to be out the whole time.

"I'm looking forward to get out there as a team. We had a couple days at home for people to have some relax time, recharging."

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said: "It's a great opportunity to set a total on the board and let's see how it goes.

"It's a very big achievement playing the first test at Lord's and we're really excited about it. We have spent good time in the nets and done everything we need to do."

Teams

England: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wkt), Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemima Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wkt), Deepti Sharma, Sayali Satghare, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud

Umpires: Anna Harris (ENG), Sue Redfern (ENG)

TV umpire: James Middlebrook (ENG)

Match referee: Helen Pack (ENG)

H.Ng--ThChM