Losing 16-0 has to be a good thing for England – here’s why

OK, hear me out.

Losing the Women’s Ashes 16-0 has been a very good thing for England.

The wheels fell off in the Test match, which ended with a humiliating innings defeat for England, which culminated in Heather Knight trying to persuade us (and her team) that they were fairly close to winning. The match ended with a harrowing splintering in the teeth as a result.

You might be wondering how that could be positive, but it is because things are inherently unavoidable.

Players and management in England are now unable to fix the glaring issues that have been present for roughly 18 months but have been repeatedly ignored.

We were told it was down to “a bad eight overs” when West Indies defeated England in the T20 World Cup final.

However, the concerns about buckling under pressure and lacking leadership have been around for a long time, and this Ashes series has seen England put under unprecedented scrutiny.

Make no mistake: This team consists of generations of brilliant people, which is perhaps what makes the outcome so enthralling.

Sophie Ecclestone is likely to break every single bowling record in women’s cricket history, Nat Sciver-Brunt will be regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of her era, and Knight has had a difficult year but she has led the team admirably for nine years.

However, in the weeks leading up to the World Cup in India at the end of the summer, some open-minded truths will need to be revealed regarding the team’s attitudes toward the media, the fans, the management of the young players transitioning, and accepting how far behind Australia they are in reality.

Most of England’s issues can likely be resolved by utilizing Australia’s team culture and high standards enforced both on and off the field.

England have a problem with their own fans’ perceptions of them in the UK and other countries.

Even though Jon Lewis’ comments about Australia’s climate benefits and beach culture were doing that for them anyway, the opposition had plenty of opportunities for mockery and media attention.

Where does this negative perception originate, though?

Following the 2017 World Cup victory, there was excitement and anticipation surrounding women’s cricket in the UK, knowing that this success would serve as a launch pad for growth and success, and that a sold-out Lord’s would be remembered as a pivotal moment in the game’s new dawn.

Instead, England hasn’t won a trophy or an Ashes since, and it’s understandable why fans are asking this when they aren’t winning and their fans don’t feel like they are receiving the desired expectations from their team.

England’s T20 World Cup team members were enjoying a day off on a yacht in Dubai when they were exposed for it during the tournament in 2024. Lewis later acknowledged this and said his players would take lessons from it.

Of course, days off are allowed, and enjoyment on tour is allowed.

But scrutiny is equally important, and England must accept and handle the fact that this is the current norm. If you are paid and treated as a professional, you will be held to account like one.

This all came to a head after the second T20 of this Ashes when spinner Ecclestone, the best bowler in the world, refused to do an interview with her former team-mate turned pundit, Alex Hartley, who was working for Australia’s Channel 7.

After the World Cup, Hartley had criticized England’s fitness but did not name any players, so he had to turn aside for the interview, which brought the subject once more into the spotlight, but this time with a team’s attitude and culture.

Media duties are part of a player’s job, whether they enjoy doing them or not.

Because of their culture, which is crucial, it is almost impossible to imagine an Australian player acting in the same way.

This Ashes series has received a lot of attention, not for the reasons England would have liked, but it shows that the game is expanding and that people care.

It appeared as though this series, which England did not win in one game (they managed four points through washouts and a drawn Test), almost went unnoticed.

The one-day internationals and the Test match taking place in the early hours of dark, cold mornings, but people have been tuning in and watching the entire series.

We also know that England cares, but following the team for a month last month makes it seem like the fans are desperate for them to show us a little bit more.

Nobody else should begrudge England losing to Australia, who are one of the greatest sports teams to ever exist and who have had the privilege of watching them closely on their own soil.

But the frustration is that Australia, at times, have not outplayed England – instead, they have been gifted opportunities to win by England’s inabilities to do the basics, like catching the ball.

England must accept that putting Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa aside is insufficient to demonstrate their worth because Australia serve as a benchmark against which they are compared, despite all of these opposition.

That requires a person to work under pressure, which was raised following the 2022 Commonwealth Games defeat, the 2023 World Cup semi-final, the 2024 group-stage defeat, and now several times during this Ashes.

England haven’t, therefore, improved that mental toughness of their game for nearly three years.

England will benefit from a one-month break from international cricket until May when West Indies will play them, before India will face a more difficult challenge in May.

We do not know what the leadership team will be when those series are over, since so little was revealed at the conclusion of the Test match about Lewis and Knight’s futures.

England’s chances of returning to winning ways are unlikely to completely change until they win a World Cup or an Ashes, and that will require a significant change in the players’ management.

Since taking the field in 2022, Lewis has encouraged players’ freedom both on and off the field and emphasized his desire for aggressive cricket and a healthy work-life balance.

It’s all fair, and Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum did that in the men’s game, but it’s possible that the women’s game isn’t quite ready for that.

The fact that women’s cricket is still in its early stages of development is not patronizing; rather, it is simply acknowledged that the system has been in place for a very long time and that women’s cricket is still in its early stages in comparison to men’s.

And not everyone’s size is the same. It is the responsibility of a coach or manager to nurture those different personalities, even though some players might thrive with that freedom, while others might prefer a little more guidance.

It all comes back to using the 16-0 clean sweep as the catalyst for change, both in performance and team perception.