A women's Test at Lord's - has that happened before?
No, it hasn't. The England-India fixture that begins on Friday will be the first ever Women's Test played at Lord's. Only 142 years after the first men's Test was played at the ground.
England Women have played 55 Tests at 19 venues around the country since 1937; Lord's will be the 20th.
About time then. How did this match come about?
In June 2023, which is by the way when England played their last Test at home (at Trent Bridge), the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket published a scathing report, saying it was "truly appalling" that England had never played a women's Test at Lord's. "The 'home of cricket' is still a home principally for men," the ICEC report said, which might have sprung administrators into action.
Are women's Tests different from men's Tests?
The biggest difference is that a women's Test is played over four days, not five. A minimum of 100 overs have to be bowled in a day, and the follow-on mark is 150 instead of 200.
There have been only two five-day women's Tests to date - the aforementioned Trent Bridge Test in the 2023 Ashes was the last one, which Australia won by 89 runs. The players involved loved the additional day.
England and India - how's their recent form?
They were in different groups at the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup. India failed to make the semi-finals after losing group matches to Australia and South Africa, while England lost the final to Australia at Lord's.
In Test cricket, India's only fixture this year was a pink-ball Test in March at the WACA, where they lost to Australia by 10 wickets. It was their first defeat in 10 Tests since 2006.
They didn't play a Test in 2025 and played only one in 2024, when they beat South Africa by ten wickets in Chennai.
England's previous Test was in January 2025 - a massive defeat at the MCG - so they may be rustier than India in the format. They have won only one of their last ten Tests, going back to 2015.
What about their head-to-head record?
It's, perhaps surprisingly, in favour of India. They played England in a women's Test last in December 2023, when they completed a 347-run victory in Navi Mumbai. India have won three of their last four Tests against England, but those fixtures go all the way back to 2006.
Here are a couple of surprising facts: India have not lost a Test to England since 1995, and they have not lost any of their nine Tests in England (two wins, seven draws).
The last time India won in England - at Wormsley in 2014 - Smriti Mandhana scored a half-century in a successful chase on Test debut. It was a landmark win because India had not played a Test for eight years until then, and their XI had eight debutants including Harmanpreet Kaur. Women's cricket in India was still a few years away from becoming professional, while England's players had been awarded full-time contracts only months ago.
In the lead-up to this Test match, India had a few training sessions at the same ground in Wormsley.
Are England and India's Test teams very different from their T20I teams?
While the core of both teams comprises the same players that featured in the T20 World Cup - England are led by Nat Sciver-Brunt and India by Harmanpreet Kaur - the two squads include eight players new to the Test environment.
Batter Harleen Deol, left-arm spinner N Shree Charani and fast bowler Nandani Sharma, who made her international debut just before the T20 World Cup, are uncapped for India in Tests. Sayali Satghare, who made her debut against Australia, is also in the squad and could get more support from the conditions in London.
For England, batter Alice Capsey, wicketkeeper Eleanor Threlkeld, seamer Grace Potts, spin allrounder Mady Villiers, and 18-year-old left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman got their maiden Test call-ups. Offspiner and white-ball vice-captain Charlie Dean was rested due to workload management.
Who are the players to watch beyond the usual suspects?
It will be interesting to see whether England unleash Lauren Filer, one of their quickest bowlers who did not get a game in their T20 World Cup campaign, alongside Issy Wong, who can also crank the pace up.
For India, the question is whether Pratika Rawal, one of the heroes of their ODI World Cup win last year, can find a place in the starting XI. With Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia and Harleen Deol - uncapped in Tests - part of the squad, competition for top-order spots is tough. In the bowling department, India will have to choose two out of Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud and Nandani, assuming Satghare's batting giving her an edge as a seam-allrounder.
