‘We want to win 16-0 and embarrass England’ – Harris eyes clean sweep

Batter Grace Harris says Australia are targeting a 16-0 clean sweep and want to “embarrass” England in the Women’s Ashes, after her side won the series outright with a six-run win in the second T20 in Canberra.

Harris struck a crucial 35 from 17 balls in Australia’s 185-5, including three sixes, as the hosts opened a 10-point lead in the multi-format series.

She added that the previous series in 2023 felt like a defeat, after England overcame a 6-0 deficit to draw the series and Australia only retained the Ashes rather than winning outright.

“Of course I have thought about 16-0,” Harris told BBC Test Match Special after the win.

“A whitewash would be outstanding. England got the better of us in the last series.

“To me, it’s a loss, a draw is boring. But 16-0, that would be very, very good if we could embarrass this England team because they’re actually a very competitive outfit and they’ve got some really good players among them. “

Harris added that she would not be surprised if England “threw a few punches” back in the remaining T20 and the four-day Test match which concludes the series in Melbourne, and is worth four points.

While Australia have dominated the series, England missed an opportunity to level in the second one-day international as they failed to chase just 181, while they took their chase of 186 in Canberra to the last over before rain had the final say.

It is Australia’s sixth Women’s Ashes win in a row but the multi-format series, which has existed since 2013, has never been won via a clean sweep of results.

England did not win a match during the last series in Australia in 2022, but they managed to get four points via two washouts and a drawn Test.

Skipper Heather Knight, who has been in charge of England since 2016, was asked about her future following Thursday’s defeat.

“In any leadership position you always feel responsibility when the team is not performing well and we have not performed as well as we want to,” said Knight.

“Yeah, it’s certainly frustrating but that’s not really a question for now. I’m just focused on what we need to do to try to win the next game and turn things around, and focus on Adelaide.