Heather Knight has urged England to regroup quickly in the Women’s Ashes but took a crumb of comfort from the entertainment served up in a losing cause in the lone Test at Trent Bridge.
The decision to have this series opener across five days as opposed to the traditional four for women’s Tests backfired on England as Australia sealed an 89-run win inside 90 minutes of the final morning.
Australia therefore took a 4-0 points lead in the multi-format series but with only two on offer for wins in three T20s and three ODIs, England need to prevail in five of the six matches to claim the urn.
While Knight spoke forlornly after England slid from an overnight 116 for five to 178 all out chasing 268, she pointed out the ebbs and flows that occurred was a great advert for the women’s Test cricket.
There is some justification to her argument with an official attendance of 23,207 across the Test – with just over 2,000 on the final day after the Nottingham venue threw open their gates free of charge.
“There is certainly disappointment but I’m really proud of how the girls have gone about these five days, it’s been a very entertaining Test match which has been great,” the England captain said.
“The way we’ve gone toe-to-toe with the Australians and really put them under pressure at times, I’ve been really proud of how the girls have done that. I don’t think we’ve taken a backward step.
“The fact that we’ve had five days has led to the great cricket that we’ve had. Lauren (Filer) bowled before lunch (on Sunday) and I just had a little moment to look around at the crowd getting really engaged. At that moment I was like ‘can I bottle this? This is awesome’.
“That’s what we want to do as a team. We want to get people watching Test cricket, we want to get people excited about women’s cricket. That moment made me realise that actually we’ve done our job.”
England have no time to lick their wounds as the T20 series starts at Edgbaston on Saturday, with Knight acknowledging there will be some aching limbs on both sides.
Asked if she thinks England can still win the Ashes, Knight said: “I think we have to, of course. When you look at (having to win five in six) it is tricky mentally, but you have to look at the first game.
“There will certainly be some tired bodies in both changing rooms. I think being able to decompress and let things go is really important. Obviously, we’ve got quite an uphill battle.
“We have to turn things around quite quickly and it can’t be too much of a momentum shifter.
- 1st T20, Edgbaston, July 1
- 2nd T20, Kia Oval, July 5
- 3rd T20, Lord's, July 8
- 1st ODI, Bristol, July 12
- 2nd ODI, Ageas Bowl, July 16
- 3rd ODI, Taunton, July 18
Knight, who alongside head coach Jon Lewis, has attempted to foster a more attacking mindset similar to that adopted by the men’s team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
But after Tammy Beaumont’s double century had helped England close to within 10 runs of Australia to effectively set up a one-innings shootout, Knight felt her bowlers strained too hard for wickets as Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield put on 82 in 19 overs to get the tourists’ noses in front.
While Australia were restricted to 257 all out, with Sophie Ecclestone claiming another five-wicket haul to finish with 10 in the match, England slipped from 55 without loss to 73 for four in 29 balls on the penultimate evening and the hosts were unable to recover despite a defiant 54 from Danni Wyatt.
“Day three and four – the evening sessions there probably cost us the game,” Knight added. “Maybe we were a little bit too aggressive (with the ball).
“With the new ball you’re looking to take wickets and probably I’ll take a bit of responsibility for that as well – probably been a little bit too aggressive.”
Australia captain Alyssa Healy, who kept wicket despite nursing fractures to her left index and right ring fingers, was delighted with Australia’s first Ashes Test win since 2015 after three draws.
Victory was set up by Ashleigh Gardner’s eight for 66 on a worn pitch, with the off-spinner’s match haul of 12 for 165 the best ever by an Australian in Tests and the second best figures of all-time.
“It’s really satisfying,” she said. “Five-day Test cricket is pretty tough work. I am just really proud of the group.”
