From Tammy Beaumont's 200 to new hope for England, Sky Sports Cricket pundits reflect on a thrilling Ashes series against Australia; the visitors retained The Ashes as the series finished 8-8 after England's victory in the third ODI at Taunton on Tuesday
Wednesday 19 July 2023 16:52, UK
England's women may have missed out on Ashes glory, but they emerged with plenty of encouragement as they mounted an emphatic comeback against Australia in one of the greatest series in recent memory.
The hosts clawed their way back from a 6-0 deficit to draw the series 8-8 and deny Australia the comprehensive victory they had been seeking while retaining an Ashes crown Alyssa Healy would later describe as a "little bit bittersweet".
Mel Jones, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Lydia Greenway and Charles Dagnall were on hand to offer some of their takeaways and standout moments from an enthralling month...
Former England international Lydia Greenway paid tribute to the resilience of Jon Lewis' side as they pushed Australia all the way having been staring at the prospect of an early conclusion.
"I'm pleasantly surprised that we're in the position we're at. I'll hold my hands up and say I thought this series could have been done much sooner than it was," said Greenway.
"Just because of the position Australia were in because we were 6-0 down and they just needed one more win and you just thought that was run-of-the-mill stuff for Australia. But actually we've seen England stand toe-to-toe with them in phases.
"England have been able to absorb pressure for periods of time, but the best teams in the world do it for extended moments and they win those big moments and that's what Australia have just about managed to do. Throughout so many amazing moments."
Greenway, meanwhile, highlighted the emergence of fast bowler Lauren Filer, who claimed four wickets in the Test match as a major disruptor of the visitors' top order.
"The fact they found somebody like Lauren Filer, they've put her on the scene," added Greenway. "The Test gave her that opportunity and you want to see our domestic structure proving its worth and saying to youngsters 'you've done well at domestic level, now you've earned your opportunity to go and do it on the international arena'. She absolutely did it.
"She rushed the Australians for pace. Ellyse Perry is arguably one of the best players of our generation, possibly across generations, and she was absolutely causing her lots of problems.
"We would have liked to have seen her a bit in the white-ball stuff but that's okay, she's a fast bowler and you have to manage her and hopefully we'll see her for years to come."
Charles Dagnall pointed towards Tammy Beaumont's stunning double century as his memorable moment from the series, the England opener posting 208 in her side's 89-run Test defeat in Nottingham.
"The peaks and troughs we saw from both sides, it was a classic Test match, when you think it's gone to five days, you've got two sides scoring over 400 in the first innings, the way Australia started their second innings like a train at the back end of the third day and then England pulling it back and the run chase to finish," said Dagnall.
"For me, I had to commentate on Ellyse Perry's 200 (in 2017) and how brilliantly she played and how wonderful it was. To be able to do that for an England player, and for Tammy Beaumont, after a disappointing winter, to watch her bat the way she did and score a double hundred at Trent Bridge was a really special moment."
England and Yorkshire's Lauren Winfield-Hill also heaped praise on Beaumont and the growth of her game at the crease.
"It's awesome to see Tammy back to her best," she said. "She's always been a good player with strong defence, but the thing we've seen over the whole time in this Ashes is the expansion of her game and the counter-attacking style of play.
"She's a great player of picking moments, knowing when to sit in and when to apply the pressure, that was the perfect example of the ebbs and flows of Test cricket. A once-in-a-lifetime innings and a hugely special occasion. To have an England Test player make 200 is just fantastic."
Winfield-Hill suggested the manner of England's fightback will have further strengthened the team's growing self-belief in their ability to compete with the world's best.
"I think it's something you try to manifest without getting the victories over Australia, but once you get over that hurdle it becomes real," she continued.
"It's really galvanised this group. You can talk about being confident and having belief, but until you know you can beat this team, it just gives you that next layer of 'we know we can take this team on and not be afraid', that's been a real shift.
"Not necessarily going toe-to-toe with them, but the way it's unfolded and the brand it's happened. Australia have changed tactics, teams at times, they opened with spin in the ODI, we've seen them come up with new tactics to challenge England."
Elsewhere, Greenway highlighted mistakes in the field as a defining but amendable component to England coming up shy, while also reinforcing the strides they have taken in their mental approach of their game.
"That's the one area I've been banging on about. There have been crucial drops from both sides, I think that's important to say," she said.
"At times England have shown elements where their skill level hasn't been the standard you expect it to be, that's a quick thing you can fix with lots of repetition and developing movement patterns.
"That's not the worst thing to be highlighting that England can improve on. We've seen the psychological gap, that's where they've not been able to get one over on Australia but we've seen their approach mentally has changed."
Former Australia player Mel Jones turned her attention to the increased appetite for the women's game, with record crowds turning out to watch the action unfold in another moment of progress for the sport.
"There's lots on the field, but I'll start off the field," she said. "Walking here to the ground and the queue is going right around the corner. If you look at the crowds right from the first Test match, all the way through the T20s and the ODIs, it's cricket people but there's a new crowd as well, there are eventors, people who just want to be there and get engaged.
"And there are people paying. So often in the past it's freebie tickets and complementary tickets and school kids, which is brilliant, but people paying money to say 'I want to be at this game, I want to support England, the women's game, I want to support cricket', they've brought an energy that kickstarted the series so well and has finished off the series so well.
"What women's cricket hopefully does is allow a whole new range of people to come in."
Next up for England women is the first of their three T20 contests against Sri Lanka at the The 1st Central County Ground in Hove on Thursday August 31, followed by three ODIs across September.
Before then, the players will head off to compete in the 2023 edition of The Hundred, which gets under way on Tuesday August 1 when Trent Rockets take on Southern Brave.
Watch the fourth men's Ashes Test from Old Trafford, live on Sky Sports Cricket. You can stream the men's Ashes series on NOW.
