Women’s team are set to break the Ashes spell for England

As if Christmas hangovers weren’t bad enough already following one glass of mulled wine too many, the news of how the English cricket squad were doing down under made the ailment infinitely worse.

Depressing though it may be, let’s recap. In November, Australia crushed England by 381 runs. Then, the misery continued through December as the Aussies won again by 218 runs in Adelaide. Perth and Melbourne proved even more disappointing as England lost by 150 runs and eight wickets respectively.

Then, a miracle: England won by 61 runs. This time it was the Women’s team who broke the spell. Yet, such glorious news went fairly unnoticed.

Unlike the men’s Ashes, the female tournament is a multi-format game comprising of one Test, three ODIs, and three Twenty20 matches. The weighting is such that after yesterday’s one-day international, which England won, Australia will have to win all five remaining matches to be in with a chance of winning the whole tournament.

On Saturday 11th January, the sun rose on England whilst many cricket fans remained blissfully unaware of our 192-run lead on Australia.

The second day could only be described as a tug of war between the two rivals with the advantage constantly moving from one team to the other. Australia resumed their batting whilst English debutant Kate Cross proved invaluable when bowling a wicket maiden and dismissing two more batswomen in her second over.

Such magnificent displays are testament to the fact that women’s cricket really is an up-and-coming sport

After the first innings, the outlook was positive, but not for long as Australia’s Ellyse Perry and Jodie Fields brought up the 50 partnership before lunch.

Then, Katherine Brunt was taken out of the bowling by the umpire following her second above-waist full toss; a disappointing move for England, yet a somewhat comforting one for an amateur player in knowing that such incidents affect world-class contenders too.

Thus, the innings ended on 207, leaving just a six-run lead for the hosts.

Despite keeping all day in the oceanic heat, Sarah Taylor opened for England, and was predictably caught at first slip for a duck. Heather Knight and Lydia Greenway followed, leaving England in a sticky situation at 10/3. By the end of play we faced 18/3, and the necessary 150 seemed so far away.

On day three, Perry led the attack on the English batting order, dismissing Arran Brindle and Natalie Sciver in her second over. Jenny Gunn and captain Charlotte Edwards kept the scorers busy, doubling the English run count and snatching the game away from their competitors. Perry eventually banished Edwards, but not before the English skipper had her 50.

The Australian innings saw some spectacular moments: Cross had figures of 3/0 at one stage, taking the wickets of Meg Lanning for 15, and Jess Cameron and Alex Blackwell for zero.

Moving onto day four and Perry smashed both Brunt and Gunn about for three overs, bringing the Aussies up to 88/5. Once Anya Shrubsole stepped in, England seemed much more in control of the game.

Perry sent one straight to Gunn at square leg, and the shift from 99/5 to 99/6 was a significant one. Morale in the Australian camp plummeted. Soon it was 109/9, and they were bowled for 123.

And yesterday, England moved to within one victory of retaining the Ashes after winning the first one-day international. They now need just one victory from the two one-day clashes and three T20 encounters to overcome their great rivals.

Such magnificent displays are testament to the fact that women’s cricket really is an up-and-coming sport. The girls played to huge audiences in England last summer thanks to advertising from the English Cricket Board. Athletes like Edwards are at the top of their game playing (and so far winning) a competition steeped in history and prestige.

We can only hope that Warwick Women’s Cricket Club can emulate them in Varsity 2014.