After confirming the series victory in Canberra, Grace Harris asserted that Australia wanted to “embarrass” England. That is exactly what happened: 16-0 – the first whitewash in the multi-format era of the Women’s Ashes.
Australia dominated from the outset and never relented. Having let a commanding 6-0 lead slip in 2023, they were not going to make the same mistake in this home series and were brutally ruthless. Throughout the series, Australia continued to win in more and more emphatic ways. This culminated in an innings victory at the MCG in a historic day-night Test to seal the clean sweep in front of a record-breaking crowd.
It was clear that England were not up to scratch throughout the campaign. However, a narrow loss in the second match at the Junction Oval appeared to send them into a downward spiral that they were unable to pull out of.
After the series, Heather Knight said: “It’s been a frustrating tour. Disappointing that we haven’t shown our best cricket. When we look back at this trip, those first two games, we didn’t start the best.
“We had opportunities to win. We competed pretty well at times and then losing those two, the momentum felt really hard to stop. Something this Australia team does amazingly well is to really press home their advantage, and when they’re playing well and are on top, they don’t give you a huge amount and it’s hard to come back from.”
Much of the fall-out will (rightly) focus on England’s failings, but Australia have been brilliant.
As soon as they took the second ODI they never let up, and England must look at that ruthlessness and replicate it.
This must be a line in the sand.#bbccricket
— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) February 1, 2025
Their bowling was the only asset that stood the test of time. Both Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer shone throughout, while young seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay impressed without reward in the Test. Similarly, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone were their usual metronomic selves.
When you consider how young their attack is, it is even more positive. Of the eight frontline bowlers England used throughout the series, only Linsey Smith is over the age of 25. However, this does raise the question: why were there not more bowlers in their ‘prime’?
Speaking after the third T20I, Jon Lewis said: “We’ve got a really young bowling attack. We’re really inexperienced, especially inexperienced playing over here, and this will be a great learning curve for them. They’re a young group, and there’s some exciting high-potential cricketers in there, and we’ve got some really exciting high-potential cricketers sitting just outside of this group too.
“It takes a long, long time, to develop young cricketers and young fast bowlers, especially in the women’s game, where they don’t bowl a high volume of balls like they do in the men’s game. But it’s really tricky to develop players fast, and most of their development is being done on the international stage, which, again, is a really tricky thing for them to do.”
On the other hand, England’s batting struggled throughout. As a side, they never passed 250 and individually, no player scored more than 65. Australia also broke the record for the lowest successful defence in an Ashes ODI (181) in Melbourne and skittled England for 90 at the Adelaide Oval, their second-lowest total in WT20I history. Away Ashes victories in the past have been built on strong, resilient batting. Whether that be Myrtle Maclagan in 1934/35 or Charlotte Edwards in 2013/14, batting sets up the victory.
Crucially, England failed to build partnerships, meaning even if they were starting to turn the tide, continual wickets kept pegging them back. They made no hundred partnerships and had only two worth more than 70. Even if they managed to get to fifty, they failed to capitalise on this. They had seven partnerships total between 45 and 55 runs and more often than not, when these were broken, they were followed by collapses.
England’s other major issue was the quality of their fielding. They missed upward of 20 chances and constant misfields boosted Australia’s totals each match. When watching the two sides in the field, the difference between each was stark. Australia still made mistakes and missed chances, as every team does, but when England let standards slip, it often compounded and led to more errors. The key difference lies in experience. Australia’s players, battle-hardened by years of high-quality domestic cricket in the WBBL, have learned to move on from mistakes quickly, while England’s struggles reflect a domestic system that lacks the same depth and intensity. This echoed the issues that plagued England’s exit from the 2024 T20I World Cup. On that occasion, England dropped five catches, but they failed to improve ahead of Australia.
“England have been behind the eight-ball for about 15 years.”
.@izzywestbury breaks down where it’s all gone wrong for England.
📺 WATCH #Ashes on Ch. 501 or stream via Kayo https://t.co/MhKDMGHKlA
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🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/ED5tydNEL4 pic.twitter.com/s2xIVId7h9— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) February 1, 2025
It is hard to argue with such a definitive scoreline, but it is also hard to argue that Australia are truly 16-0 better. That’s not to say that the score flatters Australia. They were undoubtedly the better side. But had England managed to sneak a victory in the ODI series, it is easy to visualise how the series might have been closer – or at least looked closer on paper.
Heading into the series, Australia were favourites but many predicted that England would pick up two or three wins, and some even favoured the visitors.
The 2023 WAshes, which ended 8-8 and saw England fight back from 6-0 down, perhaps gave them a false sense of progress. While their team performance was the best of an English side in the Ashes over the last decade, the quality of Nat Sciver-Brunt and one or two others papered over the crack.
Australia, however, have never been reliant on one crucial player. Ellyse Perry has long been one of the greatest players in the world, but even she was dropped by Australia at one point after questions were raised about her T20 strike rate. She promptly upped her rate and was recalled.
There is almost no timeline where England would consider dropping Sciver-Brunt, no matter her form. Partly because of her quality, but also because whoever would replace her, would be a huge downgrade.
There is a vast chasm between the strength and depth of the domestic scenes in England and Australia and this has an impact on the first team. Not only do England players not have as much competition for their places, but also it means when they do return to domestic cricket, they are often not as challenged.
All eight of England’s batters on this tour rank among the top ten all-time run scorers in The Hundred, with only Lauren Winfield-Hill (an ex-England international) and Bryony Smith (a possible future star) also making the list. This shows the lack of depth and options England have, and that there is no pressure from beneath.
Australia women’s cricket team is the best team of any gender in any sport anywhere in the world.
The only question is where they stand in the ranks of the all-time greats#ausveng #ashes #bbccricket #womensashes
— Georgie Heath🎙️ (@GeorgieHeath27) February 1, 2025
The WBBL has been going on for ten years now and has been a source of strength for them, helping develop players and identify talents. While the usual suspects topped the run charts for the 2024/25 season, young stars like Georgia Voll, who was yet to debut for Australia, were showcasing their potential. At the same time, seasoned players like Georgia Redmayne, a top ten all-time run scorer, continued to make their mark.
While England aren’t as bad as the scoreline suggests, it has revealed many underlying issues within women’s cricket in the UK. Changes to women’s cricket had already been set for 2025, with the revamp of the domestic system, but with a whitewash in the forefront of Clare Connor’s mind, there might be more upheaval than anticipated over the coming years.
