England Women vs South Africa Women in 2022

Test match (1): England 0, South Africa 0
One-day internationals (3): England 3, South Africa 0
Twenty20 internationals (3): England 3, South Africa 0
Overall points: England 14, South Africa 2

Three weeks before this series, ICC chair Greg Barclay said women's Tests would not be "part of the landscape moving forward". Players and coaches from both teams voiced their disappointment, especially since a multiformat series - with points available for a one-off Test, three one-day internationals and three Twenty20s - could be an effective way to entrench Test cricket in the schedule for nations outside England and Australia. First devised for the women's Ashes, but adopted for England's series against India in 2021, it was becoming a regular feature.

Though South Africa drew the four-day game at Taunton - their first Test since touring India in November 2014, and first against England since August 2003 - they lost all six white-ball fixtures. The tour was marred by off-field controversy and the absence of many senior players. Captain Dane van Niekerk, still nursing the fractured ankle which had kept her out of the World Cup, did not travel, while Shabnim Ismail, Chloe Tryon and Ayabonga Khaka missed the Test through injury; Marizanne Kapp flew home ahead of the T20 series for family reasons.

To widespread surprise, Lizelle Lee announced her international retirement three days before the first ODI. It later emerged that Cricket South Africa had told her she was being sent home and, until she met their requirements on weight and fitness, they would withhold the no objection certificate she required to play in The Hundred. Lee claimed this would have significant financial implications for her young family; the board said they were confident the situation could have been resolved in time. Whatever the truth, South Africa's inability to win a single match was cause for concern. They did little better in the Commonwealth Games.

Retirements also led to a changing of the guard for England. Katherine Brunt quit Test cricket nine days before Taunton, and played only one of the ODIs; as Anya Shrubsole had left international cricket in April, that opened the way for young seamers Issy Wong - an unexpected Test selection, prompted by Emily Arlott suffering the after-effects of Covid - and Lauren Bell. Emma Lamb found new confidence opening the batting: she was the leading run-scorer in the ODIs, with 234 at 78, including a century at Northampton.

Sophia Dunkley became the first black woman to score a hundred for England, in the second ODI, while Tammy Beaumont reached her tenth international century in the third, just after learning she had been omitted from the Commonwealth Games squad. Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp, both 17, received their first England call-ups for the T20 series, while Bryony Smith was recalled after a three-year absence to add oomph to the powerplay batting. Alice Davidson-Richards had been out of the side a year longer, and she celebrated her return to international cricket with a hundred on Test debut.