"It hurts a lot but we have to turn this around very quickly and we believe we have the skill and character to turn it around"
Monday 8 July 2019 11:56, UK
Heather Knight says "honest conversations" will be had after England Women collapsed to 75 all out and 6-0 down in the Ashes - but insists her team will not "go into their shell".
Knight's side must now win the four-day Test against Australia and the three Twenty20 internationals that follow to regain the Ashes.
England lost the opening two ODIs by two and four wickets respectively, but were then demolished by 194 runs in Canterbury in the third as they sunk chasing 270 - Ellyse Perry shredding the hosts with 7-22.
"Not good enough," said Knight when asked about her side's batting collapse. "It is obviously very tough to take. There are a lot of girls hurting in the dressing room.
"Australia came at us hard and we didn't really have an answer to that. We can't hide behind it, we have not played well enough, but Australia played brilliantly and were too good for us.
"Individually and as a team we need to have some honest conversations and work out what has gone wrong for us. But we can't feel sorry for ourselves.
"It hurts a lot but we have to turn this around very quickly and we believe we have the skill and character to turn it around.
"There is the Test match coming up and we need to re-start the series as we are still in it. There are four points to play for.
"We can't go into our shells, we can't be tentative, we have to be positive as a batting unit and I think the change of format will be good for us."
Head coach Mark Robinson has vowed to remain calm as he bids to regroup his team ahead of the must-win four-day Test match at Taunton from Thursday, July 18, live on Sky Sports.
"We had high hopes at half time but within half an hour those hopes were dead," said Robinson, whose team were reduced to 21-6 inside 10 overs.
"The better teams put you under sustained pressure, where the lesser teams let you off with a four ball here and there.
"At the moment we are being punished for our mistakes and it hard to come back from games when you are 10-4 and 18-5.
"I'm not angry, I'm disappointed as you know the hard work that goes in by the support staff and players and at the moment that is not translating.
"The girls are hurting, so there is no point shouting. You have to be calm and try to get back on track. We have to tack stock, and come back stronger."
Both Robinson and Knight insisted the narrow defeats in the first two ODIs were harder to take than their thrashing in the third.
"This game hurts your pride, humiliates you, but the other two really cost you," said Robinson, who hopes "warrior" Katherine Brunt will return later in the Ashes series after missing Sunday's match in Kent with an ankle injury sustained celebrating a wicket in Leicester on Thursday.
Knight added: "In a way the last two games were more frustrating.
"We were blown away here but in the first two games we competed for a long time and didn't manage to extend our good periods of play and get into winning positions."
Watch the Women's Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Mix from Thursday, July 18.
