Sophie Ecclestone on a Ladies’s Ashes comeback: ‘We’ve seen weirder issues occur in cricket’
Australia’s ladies have not lost a T20I since March 2021, and are unbeaten of their final 39 accomplished white-ball fixtures throughout codecs, a run that predates their two most up-to-date World Cup titles. So to say that England’s hopes of regaining the ladies’s Ashes are slender is one thing of an understatement.
Following their defeat within the one-off Test at Trent Bridge and a tense final-over loss within the opening T20I at Edgbaston on Saturday, Heather Knight’s crew now must win every of their remaining 5 white-ball matches to overturn a 6-0 factors deficit, and win again the Ashes for the primary time since 2015.
Sophie Ecclestone, nevertheless, is just not able to concede defeat, and after her standout shows in every of the opening defeats, she remains to be assured that England are “really not far away” from their opponents.
“We’ve seen weirder things happen than that in cricket,” Ecclestone mentioned. “We’re up for the challenge, we know exactly what we need to do. We’re really not far away from them. They’re a great team and we compete with them a lot, but we have to go one better tomorrow.
“It’s clearly going to be a extremely arduous process to beat the Aussies, 5 out of 5, however we all know what we have to do and the women are up for it tomorrow. So we’re hoping to placed on a giant present in entrance of the massive crowd.”
The Ashes to date has been notable for a significant crowd turnout, with the series predominantly being staged at Test-match venues. The Test attracted in excess of 23,000 across the five days, while a further 19,527 attended the Edgbaston cliffhanger.
And, with more of the same to come in 2024, following Tuesday’s confirmation that Edgbaston, Headingley, the Ageas Bowl, The Oval and Lord’s will be among the venues for next summer’s T20Is against Pakistan and New Zealand – plus the prospect of a Test match at Lord’s in 2026 – Ecclestone was delighted at the degree to which the women’s game was breaking new ground.
“It’s completely wonderful,” she said. “To see so many children within the crowd, so many individuals watching our video games has been wonderful. I feel [Edgbaston] is the most important crowd I’ve ever had within the UK, so hopefully it continues.
“I know we’ve got sell-out crowds at the Oval and Lord’s, and I’m just so excited to get out and play cricket there in front of them. It makes all the hard work on and off the field worth it. I think we’re just really excited to get there and entertain them, and hopefully inspire the next generation to play cricket.”
Ecclestone has supplied loads of the inspiration herself. Her hard-earned ten-wicket haul within the Test spanned a outstanding 77.4 overs, whereas she was additionally the decide of England’s bowlers at Edgbaston with 2 for twenty-four in 3.5 overs, together with three consecutive dot-balls to ramp up the strain with the scores degree within the remaining over.
And as England’s star bowler, she has observed an elevated dedication on Australia’s half to take her on on this collection, a trait that she hopes will play to her benefit because the collection wears on.
“A few Ashes ago they just didn’t go against me and looked to block me out, but they’ve definitely taken more of an attacking approach, so I think it’s exciting for me,” she mentioned. “I feel more in the game when they come at me and not look to block me out.
“We’ve had conversations and some conferences about how we need to go about our cricket tomorrow. We’re actually assured going into it and hopefully we will pull it off.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket