England did not lose because of athleticism – Lewis

Head coach Jon Lewis claims that Australia is stronger, more agile, and powerful than England, but that does not account for the disparity between the two teams in the Women’s Ashes.

England are 10-0 down on points in the multi-format series, with Australia saying they want to clean sweep the tourists and “embarrass” them.

The field, where England have suffered from a number of dropped catches and errors, is one of the areas where the gap is most obvious, in contrast to Australia’s world-class efforts.

“I would say yeah they are, they’re a much more athletic team than us, they’re more agile, they look faster, at times they look more powerful”, said Lewis.

Is that the cause of our nation’s cricket victories? No.

I believe they have had better discipline and skills. Every single one of our players works very hard on it, which is something we consistently work on.

Ex-England spinner Alex Hartley claimed some England players were “letting the team down when it comes down to fitness” after England were knocked out of the 2024 T20 World Cup after a terrible fielding display.

Before the Ashes, Hartley’s assertion was rejected by Lewis, who pointed to the climate benefits Australia have – using the example of his 11-year-old son, who he has to” push out the door “for football practice when it’s” minus five and raining sideways”.

There is a cultural difference between Australia and England, as well as England versus India or India versus South Africa, Lewis continued as “when I walked from Bondi to Coogee the other Sunday morning, pretty much the entire eastern suburbs of Sydney were out swimming in the sea and running and walking.” Therefore, I believe there are a few differences between the two countries.

“We must definitely advance faster and have access to more power,” he declared. If you’re talking about whether or not we can run marathons, we don’t need to. We need to be fit for purpose”.

England managed a highest total of 222 in the three ODI matches, and they were bowled out for 141 and chasing 199 in the other two T20s before falling six wickets short in Canberra, winning by six runs.

England’s next chance to get points on the board comes in the final T20 in Adelaide on Saturday, before the day-night Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground starts on 30 January.

Lewis stated that they are still looking for a top-notch performance to challenge Australia.

“You haven’t seen the best version of this team on this tour, but there is so much potential”, said Lewis.

We poked the bear a little bit, according to the drawn Ashes in 2023.

” They’ve gone away and reset. Although the gap is smaller, I don’t believe the scoreline is larger.

Lewis addressed the recent controversy that has followed his side during his eventful tour for the first time in front of the media.

After England’s first T20 defeat in Sydney, it was revealed spinner Sophie Ecclestone had refused a television interview with Hartley, after the comments she had made criticising the team’s fitness.

Hartley, who did not name Ecclestone or any player in her initial comments, said she had received “the cold shoulder” from some members of the team.

When questioned about what he might do after the tour, Lewis responded, “I love this job, and I’m determined to improve their team.”

I anticipated that we would take a very, very difficult tour to compete and win.

“They’re an exceptional team, playing on a home soil, they have been world-beating for a long period of time and we’ve got a developing group of cricketers”.

As they get ready for the test match, which could see experienced seamer Kate Cross feature for the first time on the tour after her woes with a back injury, fast bowler Lauren Bell who has played in every game so far, could get some rest.