Despite some new faces and a surprise dismissal, Australia showed no pity, remorse or fear against England in Ashes TestCricket is an organic experience. Players wander around a green field, their day unfolding subject to the vagaries of sun and rain, time and tide. Before the Women’s Ashes Test here, the greenness of the pitch stood out, the freshness of the air, making the England captain, Heather Knight, want to bowl. Then into this pastoral scene came Australia: the rise of the machines.If you’re not up to date with your Terminator references, fair enough. But that describes their style and they followed it again. Win the toss. Bat first. Start piling up runs. Win everything in sight at all costs....
Bowler broke a national record and picked up the prize wicket of Elysse Perry on her first appearance for her countryIt was one of those moments where the needle scratches on the record; when the usual rhythms of red-ball cricket are suddenly altered by a disturbance, prompting backsides on to the edges of seats and eyes to laser in on the action.Things had seemed so sedate too. On a sunny morning at Trent Bridge, as Australia’s mighty women’s team began their multi-format Ashes defence in this one-off Test match, it did not take long for a sense of normal service having resumed. Continue reading...
Alyssa Healy will offer safe pair of hands as captain, plus batting prodigy Phoebe Litchfield has fans ready to tune inThere was a time in the recent history of cricket that the Australian women’s team without Meg Lanning was unthinkable. The idea of playing a pivotal series such as the Ashes without her would have been a major cause for concern. As one of the original awardees of a marketing contract, she has long been a face of women’s cricket in Australia. So, it is not only her incredible prowess on the field that would be missed, but also her ability to raise the sport’s profile by presenting viewers with a recognisable face.However, in the world of women’s sport, things...
Difference between everyday male bowling speed and top female speeds is too large to make any real senseThe first rule when comparing women’s sport to men’s sport is: don’t compare women’s sport to men’s sport. This is generally a pointless exercise, used more often to denigrate or shut down a discussion. More widely the men v women dynamic is one of those red flags, a sign in any social media debate that you’re drifting into the arena of the unwell.It’s up there with having lots of letters and acronyms after a Twitter name or engaging in long, accusatory conversations about perceived bias against José Mourinho led by people whose internet avatar is the scowling, righteous face of Mourinho – the...
Australia women continue their uncompromising cricket that is suffocating any chance England believe they still have in the AshesThere was a time, when players named Ponting and Waugh were running about, that Australian cricket’s dominant traits were ruthlessness and relentlessness. That is no longer the case in the men’s teams, as they have shifted into a quite endearing state of ongoing fallibility studded with bursts of brilliance. But as Meg Lanning’s charges have taken apart England on their current Ashes tour, they have started to bear resemblance to Australian sides of times past.At Taunton on the first day of the solitary Test, it was a different ruthlessness to that men’s side which pushed to win at all costs. This was...