Ashes cricket: Building a case for more women's Tests

"Mum won't let me have it," Erin Osborne laughs.

"She's looking after it closely. For many cricketers that's the ultimate, that's the dream."

But far too often for the best women's cricketers on the planet it remains just that - a dream.

Osborne played 121 matches for Australia but just twice did the ACT Meteors captain do so under a baggy green.

The off-spinning all-rounder made her Test debut in Wormsley almost six years ago to the day. Australia have played just four Test matches since then.

The fourth of those is playing out right now, as Meg Lanning's Australian side look to secure the Ashes against England at the Taunton County Ground in England's southwest.

As talk intensifies about more women's red-ball cricket, the rare nature of this event serves as a four-day showcase to prove themselves worthy of the investment.

"I know the girls take great pride in wearing the baggy green, and like for many men, it is still a dream of young girls growing up the backyard," Osborne said.

"To only be given the chance to play one Test every two years makes it difficult to achieve that dream.

"It's a hard game to learn when you're always just playing one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket. For the girls to put on a quality display in a four-day fixture is very difficult.

"Credit to them, Australia are doing really well in the current Test match but it's an interesting stage whether they continue to play [more of] them at international level."

Australian batter Rachael Haynes admits her heart says yes to more Tests, but her head says no. The major challenge is the stark contrast across different nations in investment in women's cricket.

Cricket Australia-contracted players are full-time, while the country's domestic players are slowly edging towards that mark. But they are among the lucky few.

A full five-Test summer to mirror those played by elite men's sides would not be sustainable unless there was a major investment across all countries. But why can't Australia set the tone?

"This multi-format Ashes series can be taken across the board," Australian fast bowler Megan Schutt said.

"We don't know until we try. And unfortunately they aren't really giving people the chance to try."

There is no point waiting on other nations to catch up - what if they continue to drag the chain? Do that and risk watching the game fall behind as other codes invest in women's sport.

The World Surf League and major tennis tournaments offer equal pay for male and female athletes. Australia's shining lights in each of those sports are women - think Sally Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Gilmore, Ash Barty.

How about United States soccer star Megan Rapinoe triggering a stadium full of support at the FIFA World Cup final, adamant everyone is "done" with the debate raging about "are we worth it?"

"Let's get to the next point. How do we support women's federations and women's programs around the world? It's time to move that conversation forward to the next step," Rapinoe said.

As far as Australian cricket goes, there is no red-ball cricket competition for women at the top level in a landscape dominated by the WNCL and WBBL.

Cricket Australia are best placed to start at the top if they are to push for more women's Tests. It is virtually a way to safeguard themselves from any fear of financial repercussions.

Build it from the top down - market superstar names like Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, and you will tap into the market from which more than 12,000 flocked to North Sydney Oval for an Ashes Test in November of 2017.

Once other nations commit to more Test matches, chiefs could look to introduce more red-ball cricket on the domestic scene.

"Many girls would like to see that but there's a lot of improvements in the finances [required] to run such a competition," Osborne said.

"If Australia are only playing one Test every two years, it's hard to question why you would back that development in a domestic competition.

"If there's more opportunities for international girls to play Test cricket, then it might be worth CA looking at that for a domestic competition.

"There needs to be greater fixtures if you're going to put it on a domestic scene."

Only then will women's players spend enough time in a baggy green for the colour to fade to a point where it doesn't look like it has been shot straight out of the factory.

The baggy greens of Alyssa Healy and Mitchell Starc sit side by side in their Sydney home. That of the superstar wicketkeeper was presented 11 months before the damaging fast bowler earned his.

Starc's looks "torn and tattered". Healy's looks brand new - fair given she has worn it in four Tests over eight years.

That's why Ellyse Perry is desperate to do Test cricket justice. Rest assured the one-time double centurion is doing just that.