If England win all three T20s and the test, they regain the Ashes. As they leave Hobart, they stand 0-6 points down, so their chances are slim.
Here are the teams chosen for the third ODI:
Australia
Alyssa Healy (captain and w-k), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt
England
Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (captain), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (w-k), Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
You may remember that England struggled past 200 in Sydney. (scores in brief below) Although Australia lost six wickets in the process, they had little trouble in taking the match.
England had a better chance in Melbourne. They achieved the near-impossible, constricting the hosts to well under 200. But their own batting performance was even limper.
Jon Lewis’ choice of the same Eleven each time provoked reactions from the English public. Why Capsey again? She had failed with the bat and in the field in Sydney. Well, of course, she struck a purple patch – not with the bat, but the ball. As Heather Knight’s sixth choice, she took 3-22 in seven overs. Admittedly Ecclestone outdid her with 4-35, but two of those four came from the tail-enders. Capsey’s victims were Perry, Sutherland and Gardner, and that swung the game in England’s favour.
But we have yet to look at English batting prowess. In Sydney Knight, Wyatt-Hodge and Jones reached the 30s; no-one else did. In Melbourne Jones hit 47* and Sciver-Brunt 35; no-one else passed 20. In the recent match Beaumont made 54 then Sciver-Brunt 61, the first and only half-centuries of the series. For the first time the team went a distance past the 200-mark.
The trouble was, the Aussies had set a target of 309, the first time they had passed 300 at home.
There were outstanding performances for the Hobart crowd; taking pride of place Ash Gardner’s innings of 102, her first ton for the nation. And she came in at No 6, England having reduced Australia to 59-4. From there they coolly added a further 249 runs. You could imagine their counterparts, still in the field, wondering how close to 249 they could reach. In the event they made 86.
We can’t overlook one of the more remarkable boundary catches you are ever likely to see. No sooner had the BBC’s Henry Moeran said: ‘Ecclestone…six!’ than he was having to correct himself. At deep mid-wicket Gardner stopped the ball’s flight one-handed, then, realising she was toppling back over the edge, flung it skyward and caught it off the 10-metre board.
Now we come to the reasons why
If only they were simple! Lewis has seen his teams through to wins against lesser opposition, but here, face to face with the perennial champions, they looked well short of readiness.
He will have his reasons for keeping the same Eleven for all three games. No doubt he reckoned they were the best, so no point in changing them. As a contrast, Shelley Nitschke brought in Georgia Wareham for the Hobart game in favour of Darcie Brown. Her contribution was an electric 38* off 12 twelve balls, including an unlikely 4-2-4-6 off Ecclestone’s last four deliveries. She was batting at 8. Then she picked up a couple of wickets, in case people hadn’t been watching.
Now come the big doubts: will Lewis last the course; will Knight last the course? In all likelihood, yes. Reviews tend to happen after a tour is concluded, not during.
Then we come to Lewis’ philosophy. If he wants his sides to entertain crowds, then it helps if they win. Here down under even senior players seemed short of underlying principles. Knight has been in charge for eight long years. The problem is, there is no obvious successor. Until a short while back Charlie Dean seemed to be the answer. She had become England’s first-choice off-spinner, so could be pretty sure of her place. But her figures: 9-0-47-1, 5-0-28-0 and 10-0-53-2, don’t speak well of her prospects.
The one player who has been widely spoken of as an FEC (Future England Captain) is Grace Scrivens of Kent. But Lewis has steered well clear of her. She has certain advantages over Dean: she’s a batter (who can bowl) and she’s left-handed, a feature once more absent from the XI thus far selected. But of course she lacks experience at the top level.
Here’s a glance at the top-5 batting records, with only those two 50s to ice the cake:
Beaumont 13, 3 and 54
Bouchier 9, 17 and 0
Knight 39, 18 and 14
Sciver-Brunt 19, 35 and 61
Wyatt-Hodge 38, 0 and 35
There was much public discussion about the merits of Bouchier, Capsey and Sophia Dunkley. Most voices spoke against Dunkley, she didn’t appear. Still, the overall showing of the other two left much to be desired. Faced with that mammoth total in Hobart, Bouchier lasted two balls; the second lofted in to the heavens. What advice had Lewis whispered in her ear? Capsey lasted the same number – in and out.
In the field the only times English bowlers claimed more than two wickets in an innings were those two occasions in Melbourne.
The scores in brief
First ODI
England 204
Australia 206-6
Australia won by 4 wickets (2 points)
Second ODI
Australia 180
England 159
Australia won by 21 runs (2 points)
Third ODI
Australia 308-8
England 222
Australia won by 86 runs (2 points)
Afterthoughts
As a reminder, here is the T20 group Lewis has at his disposal:
Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge
It will be quite fascinating to see how he juggles these sixteen names. No fewer than six jump out on stalks, Dunkley, Gibson, Glenn, Heath, Kemp and Smith. They have yet to find favour.
Lewis may either stick to what he had worked out at home (this is my top Eleven in this format), or take a new look, admitting that his opening choices had performed well below par. Why not give the others a chance?
He will revert anyway to earlier thinking when it comes to the solitary test, but by then the series will in all likelihood be beyond reach.
Dates
The T20s come on 20th, 23rd and 25th January, with the test following hard on 30 Jan – 2 Feb.
