*Official* Womens' Ashes 2015

[Lillian Thomson]

I didn't see any of it, but the England Ladies are back in contention after winning the first Twenty20 yesterday. Two to go and England need to win them both to draw the series and retain the Ashes.

BBC Sport - Women's Ashes 2015: England Twenty20 win keeps series alive

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Australia regain the Ashes.

BBC Sport - Women's Ashes 2015: England collapse hands Australia series

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Loved it, replay on before the men in Australia I heard? Anyway I'm happy with the win. Some aging players for England, we'll see some changes for them

 

[grecian]

Loved it, replay on before the men in Australia I heard? Anyway I'm happy with the win. Some aging players for England, we'll see some changes for them

/Time for a few retiremements I think, youngsters need to be brought in the Ozzies had so much more energy. New generation needed give Sarah Taylor the captaincy.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Yep, England had a great generation but it's time to move on to the next phase

 

[Dan]

...but most of the team is young.

The XI from the first T20:

Edwards (35)
Winfield (25)
Taylor (26)
Sciver (23)
Brunt (30)
Knight (24)
Greenway (30)
Wyatt (24)
Hazell (27)
Shrubsole (23)
Gunn (29)


So of those, only Edwards, Greenway, Brunt and Gunn are anywhere near retirement age, and they're still pretty strong performers for England. Not to mention there aren't huge numbers of high-class replacements sitting in domestic cricket (at least not as far as I'm aware) -- the newer additions to the English set-up haven't quite taken their chances fully, either. The team just looks old because everyone debuted in their teens!

Izzy Westbury has been pretty critical of the domestic structure in a bit of her writing recently, and I can't help but feel that's the place for reform; I don't think England needs a full clean-out of the top side, rather the players need some more competition to keep them accountable to that top level of performance.

Plus, this Australian team is a) good and b) backed by a pretty strong domestic structure.

 

[grecian]

Wyatt was only playing in the t20 wasn't she, look it's just a time to move on, Edwards is a great sevant but she's not getting any better, it's just needed for a few refreshibg changes, admittedly Greenaway and Brunt are top performers and they're the only others in their 30s, so maybe evolution rather than revolution.

 

[Niall]

its a blowout, but 10.30 start on Bank Holiday for a t20?

Well done.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I'm not meaning a total overhaul, but I'm counting six in the squad who've been around for about 10 years or so. It's some greats amongst them. Its just a thought. To lose, at home, the selectors may make a few changes.
Flip side of that is that Brunt and Greenway are the only ones averaging over 30 this series

 

[stephen]

Looks like the Aus top order have been taking batting lessons from the mens middle order.

 

[Dan]

I'm not meaning a total overhaul, but I'm counting six in the squad who've been around for about 10 years or so. It's some greats amongst them. Its just a thought. To lose, at home, the selectors may make a few changes.
Flip side of that is that Brunt and Greenway are the only ones averaging over 30 this series

Yeah, but it's indicative of the structures in place more so than the talent of the players. There's no point dropping someone if there's nobody good enough to take their place!

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Yeah, but it's indicative of the structures in place more so than the talent of the players. There's no point dropping someone if there's nobody good enough to take their place!

True and sounds the same as so many other teams in world cricket.