Girls’s Ashes: ‘Are England imroving?’ questions Nasser Hussain after Ashes sequence loss to Australia

Nasser Hussain performed in England Ashes defeats in Australia and captained the facet to a 4-1 sequence loss in 2002/03, so is aware of what the ladies’s facet are at present going by.

Australia retained the Girls’s Ashes on Monday with a fourth win in 4 to take an unassailable 8-0 lead within the multi-format sequence, which continues on Thursday with the second of three T20 internationals between the edges from 8.15am (UK time).

With the one-off Take a look at to comply with that earns the winner 4 factors, there may be nonetheless an opportunity of England drawing the sequence 8-8 – as they did within the 2023 Girls’s Ashes at house. However, having been completely outplayed throughout an ODI sequence whitewash earlier than shedding the opening T20I, such a fightback from Heather Knight’s facet seems unlikely.

“The reaction and what has happened reminds me very much of when we were playing out there,” Hussain mentioned on the newest Sky Sports activities Cricket podcast.

“I do not suppose we have been whitewashed – and this England girls’s facet have not been whitewashed, however they’ve misplaced their first 4 video games. The Ashes have gone; I misplaced them in 12 days, Heather Knight in 9 days – albeit completely different codecs.

“It have to be vastly disappointing.

“Australia have proven their class. To place it in context, simply how good Australia are as a cricketing nation, they have not misplaced an ODI sequence at house for 38 years! They’re one of many biggest sides there has ever been.

“But, instead of looking at the opposition, have a look at your own side. Are you improving under Knight and Jon Lewis? That’s the question that needs to be asked.”

It’s 11 years since England final received The Ashes. Knight, appointed captain in 2016, led the workforce to victory within the 2017 50-over World Cup on house soil, however England are trophyless since. Lewis, having taken over as head coach in 2022, has instilled a extra aggressive enjoying fashion however one which, as of but, has not introduced with it further silverware.

England suffered an early exit ultimately yr’s T20 World Cup after a shock group-stage loss to West Indies in Dubai, with former participant turned pundit Alex Hartley saying some gamers have been “letting their team down” with their health.

And following England’s 57-run defeat within the opening T20I on Monday, which clinched The Ashes for Australia, Hartley instructed the BBC’s Take a look at Match Particular that she believes she has been “hung out to dry” by the present workforce, claiming Sophie Ecclestone had refused to talk to her forward of the match.

Hussain, who himself had the odd run-in with the media throughout his enjoying profession – together with famously holding three fingers as much as the commentary field at Lord’s after scoring a century batting at No 3 in an ODI closing in opposition to India in 2002 – mentioned of Hartley’s feedback: “I believed what Alex Hartley mentioned was fairly honest.

“It’s part of her job to call it as she sees it. And it’s part of you to react; I’ve been there, with three fingers held up to [Ian] Botham, [Bob] Willis and [Jonathan] Agnew.

“It is also a part of your duty to do the media. However I’ve identified the odd participant within the males’s recreation really who will ask the query, ‘who’s doing the interview?’

“She questioned the fitness and the fielding in particular. And obviously certain members of the team have reacted poorly to that.

“It has been a disappointing couple of weeks.”

Girls’s Ashes – outcomes and fixtures

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