Women’s Ashes 2023: Forget Bazball

The culture of “Bazball” has been so pervasive that England Women have been channelling their own version in the build-up to what could be the most competitive Women’s Ashes in a decade.

It is the influence of former Gloucestershire and England men’s quick Jon Lewis that threatens to interrupt Australia’s Ashes hegemony, though “Lewy-ball” does not have quite such a ring to it. Still, it is an encouraging sign that England signed off their warm-up against Australia A by hitting 650, including 201 from Tammy Beaumont in 238 balls.

“Beaumont-ball” will have to do – albeit with a certain irony given that England’s opening batter missed out on last year’s Commonwealth Games squad because of captain Heather Knight’s commitment to playing aggressive cricket.

England’s approach has had varying results, but when it has worked it has often been spectacular. They began the T20 World Cup earlier this year by chasing down 136 in 87 balls against the West Indies, before beating Ireland in just 14.2 overs and pummeling 213 past Pakistan to win by 114 runs.

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Women’s Ashes 2023 fixtures – and how to watch

• 22-26 June: Trent Bridge (Test) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event
• 1 July: Edgbaston (T20) – BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
• 5 July: The Oval (T20) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event
• 8 July: Lord’s (T20) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event
• 12 July: Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (ODI) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event
• 16 July: Ageas Bowl (ODI) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event
• 18 July: County Ground, Taunton (ODI) – Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event

Ultimately, it was not enough, South Africa edging into the final of that tournament by six runs. Yet England can go into the Ashes with a more optimistic outlook despite not having held the urn since 2014; Australia have won three of the last four series and the other ended in a draw.

If anything, Australia have only got more formidable – they are now Ashes holders (winning 12-4 in 2022), ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup champions, and added the Commonwealth Games to that haul last summer.

This is not only the first Ashes of the Lewis era but the first for which England will be without the retired veteran bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt. Uncapped seamer Lauren Filer and all-rounder Danielle Gibson have both been rewarded for their Western Storm displays with their first call-ups.

Australia, in turn, have bid farewell to Rachael Haynes and are missing Meg Lanning, the seven-time World Cup winning captain who has been ruled out of the series for unspecified medical reasons.

England squad in full

• Heather Knight (captain)
• Nat Sciver-Brunt (vice-captain)
• Tammy Beaumont
• Lauren Bell
• Alice Capsey
• Kate Cross
• Alice Davidson-Richards
• Sophia Dunkley
• Sophie Ecclestone
• Lauren Filer
• Danielle Gibson
• Amy Jones
• Emma Lamb
• Issy Wong
• Danielle Wyatt

Australia squad in full

• Darcie Brown
• Ashleigh Gardner
• Kim Garth
• Grace Harris
• Alyssa Healy (captain)
• Jess Jonassen
• Alana King
• Phoebe Litchfield
• Tahlia McGrath (vice-captain)
• Beth Mooney
• Ellyse Perry
• Megan Schutt
• Annabel Sutherland
• Georgia Wareham

Lanning had only returned in January after a mental health break and guided Australia to the T20 World Cup before featuring in the inaugural Women’s Premier League in India.

In her absence, Alyssa Healy has been named as captain and will not be opening in the Test, though it has not yet been confirmed where she will bat in the order. All-rounder Tahlia McGrath will be the tourists’ vice-captain.

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Both sides lack Test experience and Knight admits there will be an element of learning on the job – Danni Wyatt has nearly 250 England caps but has not yet played the longer format. England beat South Africa in a one-off Test last June at Taunton but this will be the first five-day Test in the women’s game in three decades, and the first ever taking place in England.

If England’s plan is to match Australia’s tempo, they may not have the same batting depth but will depend on Nat Sciver-Brunt, who hit 169 not out in her last Test against South Africa and is averaging 72 in T20Is this calendar year.

In the three ODIs, their advantage lies in Sophie Ecclestone, the world’s No 1 ranked bowler in that format, and in the pace of 21-year-old Issy Wong. Alice Capsey, at just 18, has already proven herself the kind of quick hitter who will be useful to England across the formats.

How the Women’s Ashes works

The Women’s Ashes is decided on the following points system:

• Test – four points
• Each of the three T20s – two points
• Each of the three ODIs – two points

For that, Capsey partly has The Hundred to thank and the undeniable boon it has given women’s cricket perhaps excuses the fact the Ashes has been shoved aside and jammed into a shorter schedule to make way for the franchise competition. That has also led to the series becoming a little southern-heavy due to clashes with the men’s Ashes at Old Trafford and Headingley – Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, The Oval, Lord’s, the Bristol County Ground and the Ageas Bowl are the hosts here.

That it is taking place in front of a sold-out Trent Bridge is all the more remarkable; previous series in England have been hosted everywhere from Buckinghamshire’s Wormsley Park to Stratford-upon-Avon. Encounters only became the women’s “Ashes” in 1998, with participants previously reluctant to seamlessly morph into the men’s game.

It is easy to see why when it is recalled how these series have been minimalised. In 2005, when England’s women triumphed in the same summer as the men’s side, they were invited on the much-heralded open-top bus parade that followed – only to be told it was assumed they were the wives and girlfriends of Freddie Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and co.

They can take some cheer from the knowledge that this summer, whatever the outcome, will feel very different.