Three one-day internationals (ODIs), one Test, three T20 matches … as a huge cricketing summer in England and Wales edges ever closer to exploding into life, the Women’s Ashes offers the promise of producing plenty of entertainment and excitement.
Old foes England and Australia will battle throughout July for the coveted Ashes trophy – and those all-important bragging rights – and it’s a difficult result to call.
England captain Heather Knight’s team are the reigning ODI World Cup champions, having beaten India in the final at Lord’s in July 2017, but the Australians convincingly claimed the World T20 title in the Caribbean in November 2018. With just one place separating the two teams in the Test rankings, the competition could hardly be closer.
The Women’s Ashes used to be an all-Test affair, like the men’s, but for the August 2013 series it was radically overhauled to embrace the three major forms of the game. Then England captain Charlotte Edwards led her side to a convincing 12-4 victory in the first multi-format series, on home turf; the Test match was drawn and England won five of the six limited-overs matches, losing just one ODI.
Five months later, Edwards and her side retained their trophy with a 10-8 victory, after winning the Test match (then worth six points) and picking up victory in one ODI and one T20 (worth two points each).
The victorious women were rewarded by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with “significant” pay rises, as they became England’s first full-time professional women’s cricket team. “Today is a day I never thought I would see in my time as a player,” Edwards said afterwards.
It’s a far cry from 1995, when she had to pay for her team blazer for the tour of India, and shows just how far the women’s game has come. It also highlights the continued importance of NatWest’s partnership with the ECB and charities such as Chance to Shine – 4 million children have taken part in the programme, half of whom have been girls – as they continue to support the future of women in the sport at a grassroots level.
When Mark Robinson was appointed head coach in November 2015, he brought with him years of experience from coaching in the men’s game, having previously been at the helm at Sussex.
Robinson realised that the outgrounds occasionally used for England matches often stifled the power and ability of his players, with their tired, slower pitches, and insisted that all matches be played at county grounds.
Two of the six chosen for this year’s competition – Bristol and Chelmsford – hold particular significance for the England team.
On 9 July 2017, a sold-out Bristol was the venue at which England’s women defeated Australia in a World Cup match for the first time in 24 years – with a nail-biting three-run victory.
But Australia’s memories of the ground are not all bad. Two weeks earlier, their match against Sri Lanka featured two stellar performances. Sri Lankan captain Chamari Atapattu’s 178 not out is still the fourth-highest ODI score, but it was Australian captain Meg Lanning who enjoyed the most memorable day, leading her team to victory with an unbeaten 152.
As the last destination in this summer’s Women’s Ashes, for the final T20, Bristol, the spectators that fill the ground and the England team will be hoping for a repeat of the success as they aim to regain the Ashes.
Another ground Knight’s team have equally fond memories of is “Fortress Chelmsford”, where the teams will contest the first T20I in a day/night match in Essex.
England Women have never lost a limited-overs match at Chelmsford, winning five ODIs and eight T20s across 19 years, and the unbridled success the team have enjoyed there has helped the ground become the unofficial “home” of the team.
Matches against Australia account for two of those ODI victories and two T20 victories. When the teams line up there for the first of the three T20 matches, it will be the first time Australia have returned to the Essex ground since 2015.
With six points still up for grabs, it’s likely the series will still be in the balance at that stage, “Fortress Chelmsford” is likely to play a pivotal part in deciding the fate of the teams.
Meg Lanning’s Aussies head into this Women’s Ashes holding the trophy, having triumphed in England in 2015 and retained the title on home soil in 2017, following a hard-fought 8-8 draw.
With both teams boasting a number of match-winning talents in their squads this time around, a tantalising Women’s Ashes awaits, in what could be one of the greatest summer’s in English cricket.
For almost four decades, NatWest has supported cricket, with a mission to make the game easier for everyone to play and enjoy. A proud partner of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the charity Chance to Shine, NatWest champions cricket at all levels - from grassroots support for local clubs and getting more people involved in the game to supporting current and future England stars and helping fans cheer on their teams, however and wherever they choose.
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