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England Women to recommence training on June 22

Mady Villiers of England celebrates with team mates after dismissing Shemaine Campbelle of West Indies during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup match between England and West Indies at Sydney Showground  - Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Mady Villiers of England celebrates with team mates after dismissing Shemaine Campbelle of West Indies during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup match between England and West Indies at Sydney Showground - Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
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England women's cricket team will return to training on June 22, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Friday.

The news of a finalised training date will offer hope to women's players that their international season may well be salvaged in some capacity this summer. Earlier this month, there were fears that women's cricket might not go ahead at all after the ECB women's cricket director, Clare Connor, said the men's international game had to take priority, as £280 million worth of broadcasting deals depended on it going ahead. With few grounds in England meeting biosecure standards needed in the current coronavirus circumstances, there are limited options available to staging international cricket.

The men's squad went back to training last Thursday, working towards a July 8 return to play. Connor last week insisted that the men had returned ahead of the women only due to earlier scheduling, and that the women would likely be back "in a few weeks". On Friday the ECB came good on that promise with a June date for the women's squad, with further details on logistics set to be released soon. It will be the team's first formal, in-person training session since their T20 World Cup semi-final exit in Australia on March 5.

England were due to host two international series this summer, with India visiting in June and South Africa in September. Though the former have already been postponed, the ECB remains in contact with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa to try to formalise some new plans for cricket this year. As it stands, the South Africa series - which includes four one-day internationals and two T20s - could well go ahead as scheduled beginning on September 1.

The training date is a welcome development, especially as women's domestic cricket has no competition currently in the calendar. The ECB pushed back domestic cricket's restart for men and women until at least August 1, but with the Hundred's cancellation in April the chances of a women's competition going ahead rests on the new regional format which has no formal plans in place yet.