The aura around Australia‘s one-time all-conquering team has been diminished after a drawn Ashes series which ended with a massive ODI defeat.
Even skipper Alyssa Healy, filling in for absent Meg Lanning for the entire tour, called it a “bit dirty” to retain the Ashes without winning the series as the absence of the talismanic leader stood out.
For the second match in a row English run machine Nat Sciver-Brunt blasted a century as she guided her team to 9-285, a target reduced for the Australians by rain to 269 but still one the tourists fell well short of.
All out for 199 in just 35 overs, the 69 run loss was the biggest of any of the ODI series, with Australia’s lone victory coming in a last-ball thriller having also lost two of the three T20s.
The multi-format series ended 8-8, Australia’s four-point haul in the opening Test match proving the difference after England dominated both the T20s and ODIs, winning four of the six games.
Australia may still hold the ODI and T20 World Cups, and now the Ashes for a fourth-straight series, but Healy had to concede the landscape of women’s cricket had changed.
“We know that we got it done, even though feels a bit dirty. But we got the result, so yippie!,” she said after the final game at Taunton.
“I have actually never been a believer in the gap. The gap‘s not necessarily been. It is no surprise to see the way England have played in this series. They are going to beat any side in the world.
“Sri Lanka are beating New Zealand, Bangladesh are beating India, lots of exciting things happening in the world.”
Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner, named player of the series for her team, suggested the Aussies “didn’t show fight where we needed to” in the face of a serious assault from England’s batters especially.
“Of course we came here to win the Ashes, retaining it is great. We were in positions to win but didn’t show fight where we needed to. Plenty of things to work on,” she said.
“We need to find the fighting spirit which we lacked this series. We need to make sure that we are striding forward and taking the game on.
“We do a lot of training as cricketers, we have to know that we don’t lose skills in one day.”
Even Sciver-Brunt, who was named the player of the Ashes, said it felt like a “moral victory” by winning both the T20 and ODI series and making a big dent on their long-time foes.
“Being able to win the T20 and ODI series cemented that belief,” she said.
“We are probably not at the top of where we want to be but have made big strides.“