Women's weekend matches to be televised live

Two replays of last summer's CricInfo Women's World Cup will be played out at Lincoln this weekend when New Zealand and Australia play a double-header in their annual Rosebowl series.

New Zealand was beaten 3-0 on the Australian leg of the series last week but the series is an important part of New Zealand's rebuilding programme.

The first two games will be screened live on Sky Sport.

Absent from the middle will be women's cricket legend Debbie Hockley, but she will be part of the commentary team, as will former New Zealand women's bowler Katrina Keenan.

They will work as part of a commentary team headed by Martin Crowe.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive, Martin Snedden, said the television coverage is a fitting recognition of the quality of cricket played by the world's top two women's teams.

"The final of the CricInfo Women's World Cup last summer between these two sides was an example of outstanding cricket. The skill level was high and the match was extremely exciting for viewers as the result came down to the final few balls of the game. The match was the highest rating sporting event on Sky Television during the month of December.

"New Zealand Cricket is thrilled to work with Sky Television in providing coverage for international women's cricket. It is important that we continue to promote the game to the widest possible audience in order to continue its growth in both popularity and player numbers," Snedden said.