Australia were left feeling “hollow’ by how the 2023 series ended but it’s still more than 10 years since England toppled them outright
Valkerie Baynes10-Jan-20252:25
Charlie Dean: We don’t have as many Ashes scars in this team
Both protagonists enter this chapter of the Women’s Ashes with points to prove. It’s a scenario that might seem unlikely given that Australia have held the Ashes for a decade, but that’s not the full story.For starters, this year’s hosts are never done – it’s what’s made them dominant for so long. The fact that they were very nearly brought undone in the drawn 2023 series, should fuel Australia’s desire to win this one outright, while giving England confidence.Add disappointing T20 World Cup campaigns for each side less than three months ago, where Australia were knocked out in the semi-finals and England failed to progress beyond the group stage, and this weekend’s opening ODI in Sydney looms as a thriller – weather permitting.Related
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England won both white-ball legs at home in 2023 to level the series eight points all after Australia had won the Test. With the four-day, pink-ball Test at the MCG coming at the end of this edition, England can put themselves in prime position beforehand, if they can match their earlier form in the three ODIs and three T20Is.Hoping to play a role is England’s ever-reliable seamer Kate Cross, just as she did on her Ashes debut in 2014, the last time her team won them on Australian turf.Cross is still managing her recovery from a back injury suffered during last month’s tour of South Africa but, on or off the field, she offers considerable wisdom, having taken three wickets in each innings as England won the Perth Test – then worth six points – to open that series.And, while last year’s Ashes provided plenty of learnings, she believes more recent events could be a factor.”Even the aftermath of the World Cup that’s just happened probably is playing a bit of a role in both teams – maybe both teams might feel like they’ve got a point to prove,” Cross told ESPNcricinfo.”What we gained from that 2023 Ashes was, when we play our best cricket, we can beat the best in the world, and that’s the confidence that you take from a series like that. It was more around the way that we played our cricket that pleased us all the most and what we were the most proud of. We came away from that series with a draw but two white-ball series to our name.”When you beat Australia in two white-ball series, of course it’s going to give you confidence but having said that, that was on home soil and it was 18 months ago, a lot’s changed since then. As much as you can draw confidence from it you also need to realise that this is a fresh start and it starts at nil-nil on Sunday.”ESPNcricinfo LtdCross is one of a handful of players remaining from the 2013-14 series alongside Danni Wyatt-Hodge, current captain Heather Knight, Amy Jones and Nat Sciver-Brunt from England and Australia’s Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Megan Schutt.Her over-riding memory of that time was the Test and she has tried to emulate that early performance in midst of a brutal nationwide heatwave ever since.”That was my debut so I didn’t have a clue how to play the red-ball format,” Cross said. “It’s just experience [that’s changed]. I’ve not tried to change my blueprint too drastically from that series in particular.”The December before that I’d made my white ball-debut. Obviously you want to evolve as a player, but you also have to remember what gets you to your international debuts and that was something that I’ve tried to remember and keep hold of throughout my career.”When I’m keeping it simple and I’m trying to be as consistent as I can as a bowler, then that’s when I’m at my best. I might not have the pace that some of the youngsters have got coming through, but I would always pride myself on being a reliable bowler for any captain. That’s where I found success in that Test match back in 2014.”Australia’s celebrations at the end of the 2023 were muted•Getty ImagesBack then, after winning the Test and the first ODI, England had one hand on the trophy but a mini fightback from Australia in the next two games meant that it wasn’t until the first T20I in Hobart that England retained the Ashes.Wyatt-Hodge doesn’t remember a lot about that series, but she does recall the defining moment – and the celebrations that followed. As Cross said, much has changed since then.Wyatt-Hodge was known as much then for her offspin as her batting potential, the latter having completely overgrown any designs she might have had on being a bowler, such has been her success as a powerful T20 opener and ODI finisher over years since.Long retired is Charlotte Edwards, who delivered the Ashes with her unbeaten 92 off just 59 balls as England won the first T20I to take an unassailable lead of 10 points to four with two games to spare.
“It was probably the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had because I’ve never really lost a game and then had to celebrate winning”Phoebe Litchfield on the 8-8 draw in 2023
“I don’t really have that many memories apart from Lotti getting all those runs down at Hobart,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “I remember running onto the pitch, celebrating with her, and then we had a great night out in Hobart after.”They’re my biggest memories of the Ashes in 2014. It’s been 10 years since we’ve got it so it’d be amazing if we did it again. It starts at nil-nil and it’s just really exciting. Especially for me, I don’t even know how many Ashes I’ve played in, but I’ve still got those nerves and excitement and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”Australia, meanwhile, will be looking to avoid the emptiness of their 2023 celebrations, as described by young opener Phoebe Litchfield.”Both teams were probably left a bit hollow after that series, knowing we’d retained it but haven’t truly deserved it, so this time around we are definitely keen to win it outright,” Litchfield said this week. “It was probably the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had because I’ve never really lost a game and then had to celebrate winning. It was quite foreign.”And it was probably just because the team has succeeded so much, and the start we had last time, we were six points up, and only needed one more to retain it, let alone win the thing. By the end of it, it was a bit hollow.”1:51
Georgia Voll talks Women’s Ashes
Ashleigh Gardner, who starred in the 2023 Test with eight second-innings wickets and 12 for the match, believes Australia have made great strides in their one-day game, citing series victories over India 3-0 and New Zealand 2-0 this season.”I know with the ball, looking back in England, we probably didn’t execute well enough but we’ve done a lot talking,” Gardner said. “We’ve got some players who are playing different roles at the moment with ball in hand and with the bat as well, it’s making sure we are taking the game on and not worrying about the consequences.”Looking back more recently at the ODIs we’ve just played, I certainly think we did that, different people stood up at different times, and it’s super exciting to see where this team can be.”Both squads look similar to 2023 with a number of players on either side taking further steps in their development.Litchfield is firmly established in Australia’s top order and 23-year-old allrounder Annabel Sutherland is in prime form after back-to-back ODI centuries against India and New Zealand in December.Georgia Voll, who shone on her international debut in the series against India in the absence of injured captain Healy, further pressed her Ashes cause with a fifty opening alongside Healy for the Governor General’s XI in the washed-out warm-up on Thursday.Kate Cross is one of the survivors from England’s last Ashes victory•Getty ImagesHealy was unable to test her hopes of returning to wicketkeeping duties after a knee problem when play was abandoned in the 29th over of the 50-over-a-side contest, although she came through a practise session afterwards unscathed.After the previous Women’s Ashes in England drew bumper crowds, played alongside the men’s version amid high stakes when the home side dropped the first T20I, the hope is that the Australian public will be similarly captivated this time.Cricket Australia said this week that while venues, capacities and scheduling were different, the series was “tracking significantly above” the 2017-18 Women’s Ashes, with 2021-22 affected by Covid restrictions. “We expect this women’s international series will be the highest attended in Australian cricket history,” CA said.Cross said: “The beauty of the 2023 Ashes was that the narrative was created. We were six-nil down and then fought our way back to six-all and that created a lot of interest. Naturally having the men’s Ashes side by side to ours made cricket the talk of the town a little bit during that summer.”I’m hoping what doesn’t happen this time is that because the games are quite close together and it’s all played over such a short period that we lose that narrative. You want to give the public the time to realise what’s going on and get behind – obviously they’ll be getting behind the Aussie girls over in Australia – but you still want the crowds to be in.”With 10 days of cricket scheduled over 22 days from January 12 to February – three ODIs, three T20Is and the Test – this tale may not be epic in length but if history serves as it so often does in the Ashes, it could be epic all the same.