Australian all-rounder Nicola Carey says a rare Ashes Test is a chance to show fans why they should be streaming through the gates - and it may double as a shot to prove to broadcasters women's cricket is worth the investment.
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The Australia and England sides have arrived in Canberra ahead of their red-ball clash at Manuka Oval beginning on Thursday.
The Ashes series showpiece marks their first outing since broadcaster Nine Network came under fire for a move Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy dubbed a "slap in the face".
Nine purchased simulcast rights from Fox to broadcast the next two men's World Cups but controversially overlooked March's women's one-day World Cup in New Zealand.
Foxtel have since confirmed they will make the event part of their "freebies pack", meaning the event will not be behind a paywall and viewers will be able to watch on Kayo without a subscription.
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"Any chance we get to play games and get them televised is amazing. We want to get our product out there for as many people to see as possible," Carey said.
"It was pretty disappointing to see it wasn't going to be televised free-to-air, but Kayo have jumped in there and it's now free for people to access. That's really amazing and hopefully people can jump on that.
"We love crowds so it would be awesome if the people of Canberra could get around it. It's usually pretty good down here so the girls are really excited."
The Test match looms as a chance for Australia to sew up the series with three one-day matches still to come, with England desperately needing a win to revive their hopes of reclaiming the Ashes behind enemy lines.
Carey has backed her teammates to embrace their natural games as they prepare to dive from the thrill-a-minute Twenty20 format to a battle of attrition in the Test arena.
"Obviously it's a pretty rare thing for us to play in a Test match," Carey said.
"You can't change too much, I think, leading into these one-off games. We haven't had a heap of prep with the weather and the rain that was around in Adelaide but we'll kick off [on Tuesday] with some nets and stuff like that.
"We'll approach it even as we'd approach a one-day game. The girls have played one earlier in the year so I'm sure they'll be alright come game day.
"From previous preparations, it doesn't look too different. It's obviously not as helter skelter as the Twenty20 stuff. The girls will just play their natural game. It's pretty hard to curb that for a one-off game we don't play a heap of. It'll look fairly similar to what we've done in the past.
"It's worth four points so that's massive in the context of the whole series. Both teams will be looking to get a result."
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