Ashes Test - Final Thoughts

Ultimately both teams were beaten by the North Sydney Oval pitch, as England comfortably held off the Aussies on the final day, ending with a handshake an hour before the scheduled close of play on 206/2. Heather Knight (79*) and Georgia Elwiss (41*) saw England to the draw after Tammy Beaumont and Lauren Winfield had fallen midway through the first session of the day. Knight and Elwiss simply dug in and on a slow pitch there was little that the Aussies could do.

This leaves the Aussies 6-4 up in the series and needing to win just one of the three T20Is, which start on the same pitch on Friday. England cannot afford any more slips.

Whilst the last day may have been a bit of an anti-climax, the Test has been an absorbing contest and once again sparked the debate about why the women don't play more Test cricket. The simple answer is because the ICC don't want them to. The reason is that it is not a format they can see being lucrative. That is not likely to change anytime soon, more's the pity.

This will always be the Test that is remembered for Ellyse Perry's magnificent double hundred. She is the consummate professional and the game is lucky that she decided to pursue a career in cricket rather than in football. She will continue to dominate bowling attacks around the world for many years to come, but Australia will need to rely less and lesson on her bowling. She cannot be expected to carry both, and her batting is now far superior to her bowling. Whilst her T20I and ODI batting numbers are good, you definitely feel that, given more opportunities, her Test stats would be out of this world.

The series seems to have captured the attention of the Aussie public, with 12,000 turning up to watch the Test. Crowds for the three T20Is are likely to also be very good. It will be the most watched Women's Ashes series in Australia to date.

The series will be swiftly followed by the WBBL, again with increased television coverage and bigger crowds.

Women's cricket in Australia has become mainstream. It has become a viable career option. Who would have thought that five years ago?

MD
12/XI/17

Ashes Test Day Three - Talking points

So England ended Day Three 128 runs behind Australia after Ellyse Perry's mammoth knock of 213* took Australia to 448/9 declared. It was simply magnificent. A chanceless double hundred. The first time she has ever got into three figures in international cricket. A pleasure to see no matter what your affiliations may be.

England were 40/0 at the close of the third day, but not without a few flutter. They will have 100 overs to negotiate tomorrow to draw the Test and keep their Ashes hopes alive. If they lose then the Ashes are gone.

But is an England win completely out of the question? The bookies think so. You can get 80/1 on England winning the Test, but just hang on a minute....

There are 100 overs to be bowled tomorrow. If England treated the game like a 50 over game and could score at 5 runs an over then after 50 overs they would be 122 runs ahead of the Aussies. Bat another 10 overs and they could take that lead to 200, if they have wickets in hand. Declare and that would leave Australia 38 overs to score 201 to win. Would they go for it? Of course they would, at least to start, which could open the door for England with the final session under lights.

It would be a risky strategy, yes, but one that I am sure Mark Robinson will at least be thinking about, albeit only briefly. England are not good at simply batting out time, so why not take the positive route. Let the batsmen express themselves. That is how they bat best.

True if England lose the Test then they lose the series, but if they draw then the Aussies will only need one win in the three remaining T20Is to keep the urn anyway?

Come on England let's go down all guns blazing!

MD
11/XI/17

Day Night Test included in Women's Ashes

The ECB and Cricket Australia have announced the dates and venues for the Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes Series in Australia, starting on 22nd October in Brisbane, with the first of three ODIs. These will be followed by the sole Test Match, and then three T20s. All the games will count towards the multi-format series.

The second two ODI games will be played at Coffs Harbour. And from there the teams will move south to the North Sydney Oval for the first ever women's Day/Night Test, starting on 9th November.

The teams will then play the first of three T20 games at the same ground, before heading inland to the Manuka Oval in Canberra to complete the series, with T20s on the 19th and 20th November.

Full match schedule

22nd October - ODI 1 - AB Field, Brisbane

26th October - ODI 2 - Coffs Harbour International Stadium

29th October ODI 3 - Coffs Harbour International Stadium

9th - 12th November - Day/Night Test - North Sydney Oval

17th November - T20 1 - North Sydney Oval

19th November T20 2 - Manuka Oval, Canberra

21 November T20 3 - Manuka Oval, Canberra

MD
06/III/17