Kent and England captain Charlotte Edwards hopes to make the most of home advantage when Canterbury plays host to the only women’s Ashes Test of the summer from today.

The 35-year-old will be playing in her 23rd Test match – the only one of this Ashes series – when she leads her team out on home turf at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, on Tuesday morning.

She said: “It’s getting close now. When we got back from the tour of New Zealand, it was 14 weeks to go and now it’s nearly here. We’re excited and training hard and we’re ready.”

She added: “For me, Canterbury was the next best ground from Lord’s. We thought there might have been the opportunity to play the Test at Lord’s but when I saw the fixtures when I was playing in Australia over the winter, I was excited.”

Edwards is joined in England’s 14-strong squad by Kent teammates Lydia Greenway and Laura Marsh for the game, which is scheduled to get underway at 11am, and she said: “Having a number of Kent players within the side as well and knowing that we’ll get a good following down here, I can’t wait.”

Edwards said the Kent cricket loving public had a part to play in both boosting England’s chances of on-field success and helping the game to continue its rapid growth in profile.

She said: “The most important thing is we get bums on seats here, that people come out and support us. We’re going to need a 12th man against a side like Australia.

“We’re hoping to fill a lot of the grounds and Canterbury has always had a traditionally good following for women’s cricket. We’re hoping everyone will come out and support.

“I know a lot of people are booking all four days off work to come down and have a look. Hopefully, it will be an exciting four days of cricket.”

The Test match – which follows the three one-day matches at Taunton, Bristol and Worcester and precedes three T20 internationals at Chelmsford, Hove and Cardiff – will be screeened live on Sky Sports.

Greenway said: “Wherever we go these days we get big crowds and being in familiar surroundings, is always nice.

“It’s a great occasion and having a lot of the Kent girls in the side makes it special. I know everyone down here is looking forward to it.”

Australia are edging the series following the one-day games, winning the last two after England won the opener but with four points up for grabs for the Test win, and Greenway hopes the quality of both teams will showcase the talents of the women’s game.

She said: “Australia are a strong team. They are world champions in both formats of the game but we have the Ashes at the moment, so shows how equally balanced the two teams are.”

Advance tickets for each day of the Ashes match are available from www.kentcricketshop.co.uk priced at £10 for adults and £1 for under-16s or £15 for adults with entry to the Frank Woolley Stand.