Women's Ashes 2019

Begins tonight at 11pm. Every ball live on 9GEM. As expected, pretty diabolical start times for 5 of the 6 limited-overs games if you're on the east coast here (one of many reasons why having the four-day match telecast is excellent). Never mind, sleeping patterns are already messed up so I'll be watching and taking notes as much as my brain allows.



If you only know one thing about how this series works, it's probably the points system. But just in case: T20 and ODI wins are worth two points each, Test win is worth four points. Australia currently holds the trophy, after tying the last series at home with the captain on the sidelines.

Not sure how Australia's batting lineup will be structured across each format, though I still think it doesn't matter much with this team. Beth Mooney is probably the biggest variable, struggled on English soil during the 2017 World Cup but her form elsewhere demands selection.

The bowling choices, however, really do make a difference. Problems in the not-too-distant-past have generally stemmed from a lack of variety. Hopefully we see a bit of Vlaeminck, particularly with the red ball. Nobody else is likely to prove too threatening on a tame pitch (should the scenario arise), unless you want a certain tall blonde to do everything.

Obviously England have plenty of quality players (including a better tactical leader) but their bowling stocks are, as far as I know, a bit thin and include a few piechuckers. That is something they've been able to overcome recently though, especially in the comfort of familiar conditions.
 
Australia win the toss and elect to field first, for entirely sound reasons I'm sure... Delissa Kimmince over Nicola Carey, not a surprise based on previous selections but a most precarious one especially with heat on the bowlers straight outta the gate.
 
Make it four down, so yeah fair start. Might've been a bit of extra bounce for the first wicket, second one might've stayed a tiny bit low. But all in all, ball is rocketing off bat between the ugly dismissals.
 

corbies

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Fran Wilson has the highest "bat-up" technique I have ever seen. Its almost a baseball starting position.
 
Wareham reminds me of Zampa - drifts it in to the pads - but limited actual turn
The other leggie in the frame, Wellington, gets bigger turn but has less control and can be fragile under pressure at times. Basically just the age old dilemma with developing wristspinners.
 
Holey shmokeys, disaster narrowly averted, having gradually pursued ("chase" is too strong a word) 178 successfully with just two wickets to spare.

5 batsmen absolutely threw it away while Perry, Haynes and Gardner weren't much better in getting beaten by nothing balls. England still bowled slightly better imo (Knight's captaincy kept them in it), but Australia were much cleaner in the field without being perfect, and both teams were ridiculous with the bat. A tie would have been a fitting result. Instead, Brunt (after a superb first spell) coming back and bowling 5 wides to seal it seemed even more appropriate.

Quite the match... part of me hopes the rest of the series isn't so out of the ordinary!
 

IKnowtheDog

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Aussies should look at utilising short fine leg when Beaumont is batting. Put pressure onher
 
A leg slip wouldn't have been unreasonable with the amount of balls that have ballooned and dribbled through that area. Anything remotely wide of off-stump has gone for easy runs too, so not much for bowlers to work with.

Whey schedule the girls at the same time as the mens World Cup??...seems strange to me....diminishes it a bit for me
When else would you schedule it, though. Five test matches starting next month soak up just as much attention. June was out of the question too because England were playing the West Indies, and of course two of the T20s were washed out.
 
Real solid collapse by the Poms there. Credit to Beaumont, nobody else cracked 25, but the way she got out (a Mark Waugh style reverse french-cut onto the stumps) was probably not a good feeling. Highlights will make Kimmince's 5fa look pretty dodgy, hit her lengths nicely though and they couldn't get her away at the death.

Don't have a heap of confidence in chasing the 218 if we lose early wickets. Bolton to hopefully play her natural game rather than swinging like a rusty gate from the outset.
 
Bolton to hopefully play her natural game rather than swinging like a rusty gate from the outset.
Oh dear! Third-ball full-blooded cover-drive to one on the up, got what it deserved.

Healy gone now as well. Next pole huge for England, shouldn't wait long to get Brunt into the attack I reckon.

Perry almost stumped off a seamer two matches in a row, likely benefitting from the tiniest of doubt this time around.
 
Incredible scenes atm. Lanning, in typical post-shoulder form, impeccably times a few and then gets clean bowled. Came out the back of the hand by Katherine Brunt, though it didn't do a hell of a lot, who proceeded to sustain a mid-celebration ankle injury and as of now is currently on the sidelines receiving medical attention wtfffff. 3/62 off 15.
 
Terrific 7th wicket stand to steer it home, clearly the difference between the two teams in this match. Mooney at her sensible gap-working best (apart from one loose shot) and Jonassen looked comfortable at the crease (like genuine Test-calibre, which you couldn't say about Gardner) from ball one when the game was up for grabs.

Pez and Dez were doing it ez until soft dismissals, might've helped tidy up the loss for England a bit... still, they're 4-0 down at the end of the day with injury concerns and not much time for soul searching. Fast bouncy wicket on Sunday night would go alright, not that I'm holding my breath.
 
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didn't even realise these matches were on... not watching FTA has it's disadvantages... anyway, looked at the highlights on the ECB YouTube page of the two games and they looked to be reasonably close affairs aside from a couple of things that seemed to go against England. Spewing it's not on Kayo haha
 
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