by England head coach Jon Lewis has criticized the “crowded” Women’s Ashes schedule, blaming the Indian Women’s Premier League for the compressed nature of the tour.
The series begins on January 12 in Sydney and will take place in five different cities. That’s three ODIs, three T20s and a four-day Test, all in the space of three weeks. With just four days between the third T20 and the pink-ball MCG Test, there is no time for a longer format warm-up either.
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“My preference would be for there to be more space between games, and the players’ preference would be as well,” Lewis said. “I’m pretty sure we would have asked for more space between the white ball [games] and the Test match, but the schedule returned to the way it was.
“It won’t be easy. The schedule is quite tight. There is no flexibility due to WPL and Christmas.
The WPL officially begins on February 21, but it is likely that players will have to travel to India to acclimatize and engage with the media ahead of the tournament. England’s Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Dani Gibson will all take part.
England announced their squad for a tour of Australia on Monday, with four players in line to make their Ashes debut – Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Bess Heath and seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who impressed with two wickets in his Test debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein. earlier this month.
Lewis said England were deliberately taking a larger squad of 19 due to a difficult schedule and expected to have to use all their available resources to complete the series. “It will be difficult for the players to play all the matches,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll see a consistent selection across the board on one side or the other.”
ODI Team: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
T20 squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
Test team: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
The challenge is heightened by the fact that both teams have players returning from injury: Lewis said Gibson, Cross and Kemp “are all getting back to full fitness”, while Australian captain Alyssa Healy played like a pure player. batting in their ODI series against New Zealand, after suffering a knee injury in the WBBL.
Lewis also supported the idea of a domestic red-ball competition for England players to ensure better preparation for future Ashes encounters.
“Whenever we play Test cricket, it should be supported by multi-day cricket at the domestic level,” he said. “If you do it at senior international level, there should be a way for players to be able to understand how to play. I think there is room for that in our national calendar.
