by Alyssa Healy’s stated ambition on the eve of this Women’s Ashes was to “throw the first punch”. Mission largely accomplished. England limped out of North Sydney on Sunday night with bloody noses, whimpering to 204 in 43.1 overs – a total which, despite their best efforts, proved impossible to defend.
England undoubtedly missed the sparing bowling of Kate Cross, whose back injury continues to plague her. His fitness for the remainder of the series remains uncertain. But the real blame lies with England’s batters, who played in classic ‘Jonball’ fashion (the aggressive style to which coach Jon Lewis lends his name), lacking the patience needed to overcome the world-class Australian attack. The hosts’ final victory margin was just four wickets. Imagine what alternative outcome we might be looking at if England had scored another 30 points.
Related: Alyssa Healy returns to form as England fail to get out of second gear in Women’s Ashes ODI | Geoff Citron
Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge did their best, with scores of 39 and 38 respectively, but picked defensive players deep before turning their starts into anything substantial. So did England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt, who mindlessly slotted to mid-wicket for 19, giving Ash Gardner a second wicket in as many overs. Alice Capsey hit one straight to the point. Amy Jones hit 29 balls beautifully, then drove one back to Alana King as if she had just arrived in the crease. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Calendar
ODI: January 12 (Sydney), January 14 (Melbourne), January 17 (Hobart)
T20: January 20 (Sydney), January 23 (Canberra), January 25 (Adelaide)
Test: January 30 to February 2 (Melbourne)
Points system
Two points are awarded for a victory in white-ball matches and four in the Test, with points shared if a match is drawn, tied or abandoned. The team with the most points at the end wins. If the teams are tied on points after the Test match, Australia, as holders, retains the Ashes – as they did after an 8-8 stalemate in 2023.
How can I follow it?
The series will be broadcast in the UK by TNT Sports and Discovery+, with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, or on the BBC website and BBC Sounds app, with the first match starting at 11:30 p.m. GMT on January 11 . In Australia, it will be broadcast on Seven and 7plus as well as Fox Cricket and Kayo, with radio coverage on Fox Cricket and ABC Radio, from January 12 at 10:30 a.m. AEDT. Willow TV will broadcast the Ashes in the United States, starting Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST or 3:30 p.m. PST.
What’s new this year?
This is the eighth time the Women’s Ashes will be decided on a points system, and like the previous seven series, there will be three ODIs, three T20s and a single Test. But there has been a significant change in the schedule: for the first time, the Test will end the series. Previously, it was either scheduled initially or between ODIs and T20s. Since Test winners get twice as many points as winners of any other game, this can have a huge effect on the series standings: no team has ever lost the Test or won the Ashes, although four of the seven Tests have been drawn. – so placing it last makes it more likely that the outcome of the series will remain unknown until the end. On the eve of this series, players from both sides have called for a further change in the schedule for the next series in 2027, requiring three Tests to match the number of ODIs and T20s. In 2023, the ECB announced the venues for the next two home Ashes Tests in England, with Headingley scheduled for 2027 and the Ageas Bowl for 2031.
Isn’t that a bit rushed?
Jon Lewis, the England head coach, criticized the schedule, which twice features matches in different cities with just one day between them. “My preference would be for there to be more space between matches, and the players’ preference would be as well,” he said. If the Test match goes the distance, the series will last 22 days, with 10 days of play, during which time the teams will travel at least 2,635 miles between the host cities. When the Ashes were last played, in England in 2023, the series lasted 27 days and the total distance between venues was 490 miles. The final series in Australia was the shortest of seven using this format, lasting just 20 days, but minimized travel time by using only three venues.
Will women use the same places as men?
Sometimes. The opening match will be played at the 10,000 capacity North Sydney Oval rather than the SCG, which will be used for the first T20, and the first of two matches in Melbourne will be played at the capacity Junction Oval of 7,000 places. But three of the venues used in next winter’s men’s Ashes, and one that was used in the last men’s series, are on the schedule, culminating in the return of women’s Test cricket to the MCG in Melbourne for the first time since 1948-49. , for what will be the first day-night ground test. Simon Burnton
At least the 6,236 spectators at the North Sydney Oval got what they came to see: England humiliated themselves in an Ashes match (the gender of the participants probably doesn’t matter). The 25C sunshine was just a nice bonus, as was local hero Healy’s match-winning 70 (78 balls) – his first half-century since last March 2024, and a pleasing return to form after recent injuries. Charlie Dean finally managed to slip one under Healy’s bat and into his stumps in the 32nd over, but by then only 41 runs were needed, and Gardner and King finished the job with 67 balls to spare.
“Coming to the Ashes with a sell-out crowd inspires you to do well for your team and for your country,” Gardner said. “It was a great atmosphere today.”
The day had started with drama, after Megan Schutt bowled Maia Bouchier for a first-ball duck in the first round, only for it to be ruled a no-ball. But Bouchier continued to look overwhelmed by the occasion in her first Ashes match, playing and losing repeatedly to Kim Garth. If there remained any doubts about Healy’s decision to retain the wicket in this match (she was deemed fit to do so only 24 hours previously), they were quickly put to bed when she moved quickly to her right to take the edge of Bouchier and hand over Garth. the first Ashes wicket.
“From a physical point of view, she [Healy] It’s going to take a lot of confidence out of her for as long as she has, and then being able to back that up at the top of the order,” Gardner said.
A 50-run partnership between Tammy Beaumont and Knight helped take England to 92 for two in the first 19 overs, but after Gardner’s double strike in overs 20 and 22, the innings gradually petered out, leaving both Laurens, Bell and Filer. , very little to play. Filer’s opening spell gave away the wicket of Phoebe Litchfield, after she moved the ball to the left-hander and took the lead. That would have produced a second if Capsey hadn’t embarrassingly bombed Ellyse Perry on a deep square back.
Perry added just seven more points before Bell hit her on the pad and correctly convinced her captain to send the no-out ruling on the field upstairs. “I’m really glad I held on,” Bell said. England’s second defeat of the day proved more costly. Sophie Ecclestone had helped stall Australia’s run chase with her own bowling, but was caught out on her own when she felled Gardner at mid-off with 22 runs still needed. The catch looked so sure that Bell admitted she was already celebrating when Ecclestone got up from the ground and revealed the ball had actually come out of her outstretched hands. “Sophie doesn’t lose a lot of holds,” Bell said. “It could have been a game changer – we’ll never know.” It is on such errors that Ashes’ victories are forged.
Bell stressed England would take confidence from almost defending their below-par score, but that a “reset” was needed ahead of Tuesday’s next match in Melbourne.
“We’re one game in a pretty long series,” she said. “We’re 2-0 down but we’re going to have to start the next game and imagine it’s 0-0 and start again.”
