What can England do to end Australia’s Women’s Ashes dominance?
England trail the multi-format series 4-0 after losing an entertaining Test at Trent Bridge.
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Your support makes all the difference.England’s mission to reclaim the Women’s Ashes for the first time since losing them in 2015 has grown harder after defeat in the one-off Test at Trent Bridge.
With Australia building a 4-0 points lead, England face having to win at least four and almost certainly five of the white-ball matches to come out on top of this multi-format series.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what they could do to boost their chances of ending Australia’s one-sided dominance in this contest.
Do not be overawed
Australia started as favourites and after prevailing in a see-saw Test they will be cock-a-hoop as the ODI and T20 world champions head to their white-ball comfort zone.
England unquestionably have a mountain to climb. They have not beaten Australia in any format in four years while their last win when the Ashes was still in the balance was back in October 2017.
However, it was palpable how relieved Australia were at the end in Nottingham, with Tahlia McGrath confessing the tourists were frequently “panicking” as England landed several meaningful blows.
Recent history may be against them but England cannot be discouraged by the events of the last few days and more importantly they must believe that all-conquering Australia can be toppled.
Attack, attack, attack
Head coach Jon Lewis has attempted, alongside captain Heather Knight, to hard-wire an attacking mindset into the DNA of this side.
The approach is yet to have tangible success with early signs of promise at the T20 World Cup followed by a deflating semi-final exit, while they had Australia on the rocks a couple of times only to let them off the hook.
Lewis has promised England will “go harder” in the three T20s – the first of which is at Edgbaston on Saturday – and three ODIs that follow.
It is high-risk, high-reward strategy, but frankly what do England have to lose by going with this template?
Seize the crunch moments
Australia won all of them in Nottingham.
Consider that they were 238 for six in their first innings while England had 448 on the board before they lost their seventh wicket, yet it was the visitors who banked a 10-run lead.
Or openers Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield taking advantage of some England fatigue to pile on 82 in 19 overs, laying the foundations for a total that proved out of reach.
Or the coup de grace that saw England lose four top-order wickets in 29 balls on the penultimate evening, which left too much to do for the other batters.
The limited-overs matches will not ebb and flow as much – but if England get on top, they cannot allow Australia to wriggle free again.
Do not overwork Nat Sciver-Brunt
England’s premier all-rounder worryingly collapsed to the turf at the end of her ninth over in Australia’s second innings – restricted to bowling just 14 in the Test after jarring her right knee.
It might be that she can fulfil her four-over quota as the bowlers’ workload comes down drastically but why take the risk?
England need her batting far more – she probably has the highest ceiling while Australia will still remember her unbeaten 148 in last year’s World Cup final, the most recent ODI between the teams.
Unleash Issy Wong
Lauren Filer was able to unsettle Australia stars Ellyse Perry and McGrath with extra pace, regularly climbing into the mid-70mph range.
Filer looks set to miss out, at least on the T20 portion of the series, because England deem her more suitable for Tests so Wong should come into the reckoning.
The 21-year-old has never come up against Australia but has shown a flair for the big stage, including a hat-trick in the Women’s Premier League, where she also took three crucial wickets in the final.