Jon Lewis says England ready for Australia despite warm-up game being cut short
England face Australia in the opening ODI of the Women’s Ashes this weekend.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Head coach Jon Lewis insisted England would be ready for the start of the Women’s Ashes this weekend, despite their only warm-up game being abandoned.
After several rain delays, the match against an Australian Governor General’s XI was reduced to 35 overs a side before the weather ended the home side’s innings on 183 for eight from 28.2 overs.
England were set a revised target of 188 in 28 overs, but play did not resume at the North Sydney Oval.
“We obviously would have liked to play more cricket, but it is what it is, we can’t control the weather,” Lewis told cricket.com.au.
“The players are ready, we’ve played a lot of cricket over the last four or five months…. they’ve been playing continuously from since the World Cup all the way through South Africa, and we had a very short break, so they’ve come here and they feel like they’ve hit the ground running.”
Lewis also shrugged off the problems experienced by fast bowler Lauren Filer, who slipped over numerous times in the greasy conditions and conceded 33 runs from her 2.5 overs.
“It’s a very similar thing to what Mark Wood does and it was a little bit greasy out there,” Lewis added.
“It wasn’t ideal for her, but we hope that the wicket on Sunday will be a little bit less grassy and a bit drier.
“I don’t think it affects her confidence, it affected her execution. She’s pretty confident with where she’s at. She bowled well down on pace there for what she would normally bowl, because it was just quite hard to stand up.”
Sophie Ecclestone was the pick of the England bowlers as she removed both openers and finished with figures of three for 27 from five overs.
Kate Cross did not feature as she continues her recovery from the back spasms which ended her tour of South Africa, but Lewis said: “She bowled today at Cricket Central, she’s progressing along nicely.
“We’re just waiting to see how she comes through Saturday, and then we’ll make a decision after that.”
The first one-day international takes place in Sydney on Sunday.