England’s bid to regain the Women’s Ashes will resume soon.
They have not beaten Australia since 2014, with the Southern Stars having seen three wins and two draws in the five series since then.
England lost 12-4 on points in 2019 and 2022, but the gap narrowed on home ground in 2023. In fact, there was no difference, with the teams tied at 8-8.
The tourists won the Test match at Trent Bridge, but England won four of the six white-ball matches, including two T20 wins and as many ODI wins, leading to a stalemate.
This meant Australia retained the trophy but left England believing they were close to getting it back at some point, with their next opportunity coming away from home in January.
Heather Knight’s team prepared for the toughest task in women’s cricket with a successful tour of South Africa, winning the T20 series 3-0, winning the ODI portion 2-1 and then completing a spectacular victory by defeating the Proteas for just 64 runs. of. One-time test.
So here are some things to note ahead of the Ashes bid…
filer brings fire
Fast bowler Lauren Filer did not play in a white-ball game against Australia in 2023, but performed brilliantly on her international debut in the Test, taking two wickets in each innings, including Ellyse Perry twice.
This is what we mean when we call a fielder a fast bowler.
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Lauren Filer showed her pace by bowling Tajmin Britts and Sune Luus early in the second ODI against South Africa.
He is fast at over 70 mph and is such a dangerous weapon for England, as South Africa’s batsmen found out recently when he hit them on the body and helmet, flailing them at short balls and hitting their stumps. Blown away.
With the rocket bowling of Filer, the whooping in-swing of Lauren Bell, the consistency of Kate Cross (if fit after the back spasm) and Nat Sciver-Brunt and the spin threats of Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn, England feels like an attack that can test Australia consistently in all three formats.
Back in knight form – but what if he’s not there?
Knight has been out for quite some time, so a few low scores weren’t going to worry him unduly, but finishing the South Africa trip with a Test-match 90 was a nice coda as he scored double figures only twice in three innings. Were. White ball matches.
There were no long-term implications of the calf injury that saw him limp out of England’s tournament-ending T20 World Cup defeat to the West Indies in October, but coach John Lewis would probably be wise to consider if his What will he do if the captain is absent?
England captain Heather Knight scored 90 runs in the only test against South Africa
When she wasn’t there for West Indies’ run chase in the World Cup, the wheels came off. England looked ruthless without their leader as he dropped five catches in Dubai.
Lewis, who also came onto the field at drinks time to try to restore order, later spoke of the players “looking dejected” and “demoralized” as his team disappointingly advanced from the group-stage. She was out.
He backed vice-captain Sciver-Brunt to do a “really good job” if he had to stand down again, but you can imagine the lips of Australia if England had to field a team without Knight. Must be licking.
Should Beaumont be in Ashes T20 squad?
The chances of Tammy Beaumont disrupting the Danny Wyatt-Hodge-Maaya Boucher opening combo in the T20Is after beating South Africa 3-0 are looking very slim, although Boucher did not go beyond 35 in that series as Wyatt- Hodge had scored two half-centuries. ,
But perhaps she at least deserves a place in the wider squad after acceding to England’s request to increase her strike-rate in T20s after being dropped from that format in 2022. In her five T20I innings since then, she has gone. More than one run a ball.
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Watch the best shots of Tammy Beaumont’s unbeaten 65 for England in the series-deciding third ODI against South Africa
Beaumont, 33, was not included in the T20 party in South Africa but played in the virtual T20 in the series-deciding third ODI after rain and lightning restricted England’s run chase to 23 overs.
He scored an unbeaten 65 off 46 balls with 10 fours and displayed his traditional deft footwork to unsettle the bowlers, helping England reach a revised target of 152 with four overs remaining.
Sciver-Brunt Best in the world?
As the debate rages on over who between Joe Root and Harry Brook is the world’s leading men’s Test batsman – and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson thinks ‘don’t forget about me’ – England’s Sciver-Brunt is among the best of all time. Has been called the best all-rounder in the women’s game by team-mate Ecclestone. It’s hard to argue.
His batting, as it often does, came to the fore in South Africa, with back-to-back T20 half-centuries against the Proteas, followed by three consecutive half-centuries in this format and the same against the West Indies in the World Cup. United Arab Emirates.
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Watch all seven boundaries from Sciver-Brunt as his score of 59 off 54 balls leads England to victory over South Africa in the opening T20 International.
She remained quiet in the ODI series as she scored 20 runs with two ducks, but returned to form in the Test match with a century in 96 balls, the fastest century ever in women’s Test cricket, on her first ball. Was hit in the ground for four runs and added one more run. Before scoring 17 more boundaries, she was unfortunately run out while backing up at the non-striker’s end.
The way Sciver-Brunt batted against Australia will go a long way in deciding whether England regain the Ashes or not.
He averages over 62 against Southern Stars in ODIs and has scored four centuries in his last five 50-over innings against them – two in the 2022 World Cup and two in the 2023 Ashes – although he has scored 10 since he last crossed 50. Have scored centuries. Against Alyssa Healy’s team in T20 International.
A Test century at the MCG in the series finale would not have gone amiss, with Sciver-Brunt hitting three red-ball half-centuries in six matches against Australia, but was yet to score three points.
