Before we start any Ashes attack on England, it’s worth acknowledging just how good Australia are.
After sweeping their opponents in the Women’s Ashes ODI, the Southern Stars secured victory in the opening T20 – and thus retention of the Ashes – without captain Alyssa Healy and star all-rounder Ash Gardner, due to foot and calf injuries.
Those high-profile absences did not affect Australia too much with Healy’s replacement at the top of the order, debutant Georgia Voll, and Gardner’s in the middle, Grace Harris, each batting in a 57-run win for the dominant hosts in Sydney.
Australia’s batting line-up is deeper than the pockets and they have more spinners than a political party. Simply put, they are better than England.
While the gap appeared to be narrowing as England hit back 6-0 for a deserved 8-8 draw at home in 2023, the gap between the sides is now catastrophic.
The tourists are 8-0 down after four games and although another 8-8 stalemate is within reach – if they win the last two T20s and the only Test match – a heavy defeat, like the 12-4 reverses in 2019 and 2022, is also possible. maybe likely.
Sloppiness costs England as Australia retain Ashes
What will frustrate England is how strong Australia remain – this is a side that hasn’t lost an Ashes since 2014 and has won six of nine T20 World Cups and seven of 12 ODI versions – the perilous position they find themselves in is partly their own fault. Right down to your own sloppiness. Their own bad decisions.
Take Monday’s T20 opener as the latest example. Freya Kemp’s two wides in the first over helped Australia collect 11. Lauren Bell was then headstrong in the second over where Sophia Dunkley let the ball through her legs and allowed the hosts to steal a single.
Bell then dismissed Voll at short fine leg in the third, wicketkeeper Amy Jones bowled Beth Mooney – who made 75 – for 16 in the seventh. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean caught each other in the eighth with Mooney on 23.
All this, combined with Australian class – Phoebe Litchfield’s six off Sarah Glenn was a thing of dazzling beauty – meant the hosts raced to 90-1 at the halfway mark.
It was a dominant position that Australia would not squander, despite Dunkley’s 59 from 30 balls in England, which threatened to plunder at one stage. In the end, the margin of victory was nice. A thrashing, true.
England needed a win (or some rain) to keep the Ashes alive, but neither materialized as Heather Knight’s side again fell short in a crucial game, something that is becoming a worrying trend.
England were missing big games again
Already in this multi-format series, they squandered the chance to win the second ODI by playing too many dot balls, ill-advised shot selection and a misjudged non-single from Jones that exposed No. 11 Bell to the deadly accurate Megan Shutt.
This followed a spate of soft dismissals and fielding errors in the opening ODI, which England lost by four wickets.
Australia showed rare signs of frailty in both games but the tourists couldn’t make the jump, then were left delighted in the third as Ash Gardner followed up the century with a sublime boundary catch in a stunning performance by the home side.
Australia know how to win when it matters, England don’t.
We saw it in the last two T20 World Cups with Knight’s side bowing out in the 2023 semi-finals against South Africa and then wilting against the West Indies in 2024 while Knight was sidelined nursing a calf strain as they were knocked out in the group stage.
Pressure on Knight and Lewis?
Now another opportunity to win the Ashes has slipped away and will surely lead to questions about the future of Knight and coach Jon Lewis.
England have been without a major tournament trophy since the 2017 50-over World Cup, and Lewis’ approach to Jonball – a focus on aggression that he learned working with Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in the early knocks of Baseball – has produced entertaining cricket but no silverware. for which he was appointed.
Knight has been captain since 2016, so perhaps she feels the time is right to hand over the reins and focus on batting, but without an obvious successor – her fans falling apart against the West Indies showed a lack of leadership from elsewhere – and the carrot of a T20 World Cup at home field in 2026, she might be tempted to continue.
She has the support of her players – Dunkley, rather predictably, says the squad is “100 per cent” behind Knight – but something may have to change for England to come out of this big game, be it captain, coach or playing staff .
Australia may be too strong, but England must be stronger.
Women’s Ashes – results and fixtures
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