pisilinuxworld.org

Phoebe Graham reflects on the Women’s Ashes Test and urges England to “go harder” against a “formidable but beatable” Australia side in the white-ball games…

Five days of days of grit and determination, twists and turns. The Women’s Ashes Test match ebbed and flowed perfectly and we saw the first result in a women’s Test since 2015.

The five days were worth it. Sophie Ecclestone was outstanding with her 10-wicket haul, Tammy Beaumont rewrote the history books with her double hundred and Lauren Filer showed pace and promise for the future. There’s no doubt the record-breaking number of fans at Trent Bridge were entertained.

The Aussies were firm favorites going in, their formidable record suggested they were unbeatable, but the game showed they weren’t invincible. England got into winning positions and should have run away with the game a number of times.

For England to turn the series around, they need to quickly get used to the feeling of being in winning positions and stick to their new fearless style.

‘Australia thrives rather than survives when the pressure is on’

In the first innings, Beaumont batted with every player in the team as England scored 463. They were in a winning position but then lost their final five wickets for only 52 runs, falling 10 runs short of Australia’s total. England go back to old ways when on the back foot rather than capitalizing on these moments.

Compare this to the strength and depth of Australia’s batting line-up: their No 8s contributed 25 per cent of their runs.

Annabel Sutherland scored a fantastic 137 in the first innings and captain Alyssa Healy a critical 50 in the second. Their die-hard, ‘we can win a game in every situation’ mentality means when the scoreboard becomes a pressure, they thrive rather than survive.

In the second innings England were 55-0, with just over 200 left to chase. Australia once again turned the situation round to win the game by 89 runs. Off-spinner Ash Gardner was brilliant, taking eight wickets, but the seamers from the other end never looked too threatening.

England know they can get into winning positions, they are not short of ability with bat or ball. They have a much more threatening seam attack but need to turn winning situations into victories. The winning feeling and internal belief have to become natural.

‘England must go harder’

Australia’s ability to win pressure moments – thriving, not surviving – brought them back into the game and it has left them firm favorites going into the rest of the series.

Australia are 4-0 up on points, so England need to win five of the six white-ball games to win The Ashes. The only way they can do that is by going harder and believing the Aussies are beatable.

With the T20 squad, they bring in batting power through Danni Gibson, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Maia Bouchier and bowing skill with Freya Davies, Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean.

England got their feet in the door. Now it’s time to boot the door down and continue to unsettle this formidable goal beatable Australia team.

Women’s Ashes schedule (all games live on Sky Sports)

• Test match (Trent Bridge) – Thursday June 22 – Monday June 26 – Australia won by 89 runs
• First T20 international (Edgbaston) – Saturday July 1 (6.35pm start)
• Second international T20 (The Kia Oval) – Wednesday July 5 (6.35pm start)
• Third T20 international (Lord’s) – Saturday July 8 (6.35pm start)
• First one day internationalI (Unique Stadium, Bristol) – Wednesday, July 12 (1pm start)
• Second international one dayI (The Ageas Bowl) – Sunday July 16 (11am start)
• Third one-day international (Taunton) – Tuesday July 18 (1pm start)

Watch the Women’s Ashes series live on Sky Sports. The first of three T20 internationals takes place at Edgbaston on Saturday with a 6.35pm start.