England are 4-0 down in the multi-format Women’s Ashes after defeat to Australia in the one-off Test.
Sky Sports Cricket’s Mark Butcher says the gap between the sides is slender but the hosts need to keep cool under pressure and make bolder tactical calls to get back in the series…
“It was a missed opportunity for England in the Test match and I go back to that third evening – they got it so badly wrong with the ball and allowed Australia to get off to a flier.
“When Australia get in front they are tough to beat, but the gap between them and England is not as big as we thought it was. England can take enormous heart from individual performances.
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Image: England need to win five of the six white-ball games to regain the Women's Ashes
“You lose a Test match over five days and it really, really hurts, but I think that once England have got over that disappointment they’ll look back at it and think ‘you know what, we really gave these guys a run for their money here’.
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“But for one or two things – a few dropped catches, that third evening, a bit of tactical naivety – it could have been much closer.
“The difference in the end, when you go back over the course of the five days, was just a little bit of coolness under fire. Australia had it and England didn’t, and I think that’s it.
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“Player for player England matched up with them fine, skill-wise they matched up with them absolutely. But they batted very hot-headedly on the fourth night and had that bad session with the ball on the third evening.
“All of that has amounted to losing the game by a margin of 89 runs, which was about the start Australia got on that third night. It comes down to those small things sometimes.
“But I think England can hold their heads high and say ‘listen, we match these guys and if we have to win five out of six for The Ashes, then so be it, we’ll give it a red-hot go’.
‘We went toe to toe with Australia’
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England head coach Jon Lewis was disappointed with the opportunities he felt his side let go.
England head coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight also reflected on the positives of England’s performance.
Jon Lewis: “What this game has shown us the most is that we are not far away. A couple of the girls reflected on that with me this morning, saying ‘we can beat these guys’.
“This is one result but there are six games to go and I believe the dressing room thinks we can beat this Australia team.
“Going into the rest of the series I would encourage our girls to go harder than they have already, especially with the bat.
“We have the talent to be able to really attack the Australian bowlers and that is an area we can really exploit in the white-ball series. I will be encouraging the girls to put their foot down more.”
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Despite losing by 89 runs, England captain Heather Knight was pleased with how competitive her side were over the five days against Australia in the Ashes Test
Heather Knight: “Australia were outstanding, but our girls went toe to toe with them for a long time and that was really impressive.
“We set out to play entertaining cricket and we did that. I don’t think we’ve taken a backward step.
“Australia took their opportunities to score but we could have bowled better. Perhaps we tried to take too many wickets and were slightly aggressive at times.
“I don’t want the girls to be too down. We played entertaining, inspiring cricket and should be very proud of that.
“We will have a couple of days off and try to catch up on the Glastonbury highlights! Then we will regroup and go in the T20s, which is one of our strongest formats.”
Women’s Ashes schedule (all games live on Sky Sports)
- First T20 international (Edgbaston) – Saturday July 1 (6.35pm start)
- Second T20 international (The Kia Oval) – Wednesday July 5 (6.35pm start)
- Third T20 international (Lord’s) – Saturday July 8 (6.35pm start)
- First one-day international (Unique Stadium, Bristol) – Wednesday July 12 (1pm start)
- Second one-day international (The Ageas Bowl) – Sunday July 16 (11am start)
- Third one-day international (Taunton) – Tuesday July 18 (1pm start)
Sourse: skysports.com
