This year's women’s Ashes series is surrounded by unfamiliar territory
A lot has changed since Margaret Peden led out her Australian side onto the Exhibition Ground in Brisbane for the first women’s cricket Test match against England in 1934. Back then, the idea of a fullyfledged Ashes campaign comprising three different formats of the game would have been unthinkable.
Yet, 83 years on, here we are, preparing for a month-long series that will see Australia and England face each other in one Test, three ODIs and three Twenty20s. Fittingly, the location for the opener – Sunday’s first ODI – is Brisbane.
While the rise of women’s cricket can hardly be classed as an overnight success – labelling it as such fails to factor in the hard-fought and smart foundations laid in the past – we’ve witnessed significant changes of late.
The game has launched itself off visions like Cricket Australia’s Females in Cricket Strategy, which was devised over 10 years ago, and financial investment by the ICC. And there is no doubt all of us who have played are standing on the shoulders of giants like Peden.
That said the rapid rise of the game is still arresting. In 2013 the World Cup final was played in Mumbai, where Australia won in an empty stadium with a team of semi professionals. Fast forward just four years and Lord’s played host to a sellout crowd with a huge television audience of 128 million in India alone. Following defeat to England that day, India went home without the trophy but landed to thousands of fans at the airport welcoming home their new heroes and the news that two players will have biopics made about them within the next year.
It’s not all about player development though. The recent memorandum of understanding agreed by Cricket Australia and the players’ union – which will lead to a hefty pay rise for female players – is gender neutral. It is a move that will have many other sports discussing the structure of their next MOUs or collective bargaining agreements.
And, as Lisa Sthalekar and I have found out over the past 12 months, former players can find full time employment in areas that had previously been male domains – not just working in the game but commentating more on men’s than women’s cricket. The landscape is changing quickly and no doubt we will witness yet another shift by the end of the summer.
The tag line from Cricket Australia this summer is #BeatEngland and the aim for the Australian team is clear. Yet this series is surrounded by unfamiliar territory – not least given the Australian team are in the relatively unusual position of trailing world No1 England in the rankings.
Nor do the Australians hold a World Cup title in either the one day or T20 formats and they go into their fiercest bilateral series without their captain and the world’s best batter, Meg Lanning. It is this kind of intrigue that makes this series so compelling.
As the current holders of the Ashes, Australia need to at least tie the series to retain the trophy. That sounds simple enough but there are some key elements at play that will both help and hinder the Australians’ push to start the Ashes summer on a high: leadership and pace bowling as well as the unknown.
Let’s be clear on the issue of leadership: Rachael Haynes is not a makeshift captain. Yes, she has found herself back in the Australian team in part through the injury to Meg Lanning, but her previous state captaincy roles and recent WBBL and WNCL form has her in great shape to lead.
But it’s worth noting that leadership isn’t down to just one player, and the senior members of the team will be critical. Enter stage left Alex Blackwell, Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy for support, experience, runs and wickets.
With the Test being the critical game in the series, teams will need to take 20 wickets to claim full points and a series advantage. Senior bowlers Perry and Megan Schutt will lead a young and inexperienced Lauren Cheatle, Tahlia McGrath and Belinda Vakarewa. The contest between the world’s most successful opening unit, Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole, up against Perry and Schutt is both exciting and crucial.
The last time England came to these shores in 2013 they took the Ashes trophy home off the back of one of the most nail-biting, sessionswinging Tests you’ll ever see. Once again the Test will play a pivotal role with four points on offer.
Draws have ruled in women’s Tests over time, however with the first day-nighter being playing at North Sydney Oval, this trend is unlikely to continue. The much-talked about ball movement, particularly in the twilight hours, will provide the greatest entertainment, test of skill and a result.
History and tradition are words that have always been used around Ashes campaigns. Names like Australia’s Betty Wilson, the first payer to score an hundred and take 10 wickets in a Test, and England’s Jan Brittin, who recently passed away as the Ashes’ leading run scorer, should be mentioned to players to both educate and inspire.
And the name of Margaret Peden, too, may be in the mind of players and fans alike as the current crop of Ashes protagonists seek to etch their own names into the history books over what promises to be an unmissable four weeks of cricket.
Mel Jones is a former Australia international cricketer and now a television and radio commentator