England and Australia hit by off-field issues before Women’s Ashes series

The Blundstone Arena in Hobart recently provided the scene for English cricketing humiliation, but England Women have happier memories there. In January 2014, Charlotte Edwards hit 92 not out to inspire her team to a nine-wicket win in a T20 that was, in the new multi-format era, an Ashes-winning knock.

Edwards brushed tears from her eyes, lifted the trophy in triumph and England had a nice, deserved night out on the town to celebrate (and no police had to be called in to send them to bed, either).

For a while, Edwards was the heroine of the hour; but cricket is a fickle mistress. Eighteen months later she surrendered the Ashes to Meg Lanning’s Australia, losing the Canterbury Test by 161 runs, and the media called for her head. By May 2016 she had lost a World T20 semi-final to the old enemy; she paid for it dearly, robbed of the captaincy and her place in the England side.

As Joe Root knows only too well, England captains can have all the success in the world against other opponents but they will ultimately be judged by their record against Australia – an adage that equally applies in the context of the women’s game.

No England captain has won a Women’s Ashes series since Edwards triumphed at Hobart in 2014. Edwards’s successor, Heather Knight, is the latest to attempt the feat, in a series that begins on Thursday with three T20s, followed closely by a Test and three ODIs. Knight has won a World Cup, reached the final of another (2018), and was prevented from the chance to play in the final of yet another (2020) by inclement weather, but success against Australia has consistently eluded her.

Since she became captain in 2016, England have won just four out of 11 T20s against Australia – a win percentage of 36%. In ODIs,