Australia expecting changes to England XI

While England are still undecided on the composition of their playing XI for tomorrow’s second Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes Series ODI in Coffs Harbour, Australia are expecting changes from their opponents.

England fielded the same XI that won the Women’s World Cup final in Sunday’s series opener, but after they fell to a tense two-wicket defeat, the hosts – who are expected to be unchanged – believe a different XI will walk out onto Coffs Harbour International Sports Stadium on Thursday.

“We’re predicting there will be some change now,” Australia assistant coach Tim Coyle told The Unplayable Podcast.

“Some of their bowling personnel might change, they’ve got a couple of good players on the sidelines as well.

“We’ll try and predict a little bit about what they’ll come in the next game with but at the same time we’re already talking about a few things we want to differently as well.

“It’ll be a good game the second game because I think they’ll come pretty hard and we’ll go on with lots of confidence.”

England captain Heather Knight says the bone-white pitch will determine the make-up of her side.

“The wicket looks similar to the one in Brisbane actually,” Knight said on Wednesday.

“I suppose it didn’t quite play as we all expected, we expected it to be a bit flatter.

“But I suppose in Brisbane with all the rain they had it became a bit tacky on top, so it spun and stuck more than we expected.

“So we need to have a look again today and make the final decision tomorrow.”

If the wicket does take turn like it did in the Queensland capital, teenage left-arm orthodox spinner Sophie Ecclestone or off-spinner Danielle Hazell could come into calculations.

Despite losing the first match of the multi-format series it’s not all doom and gloom for England, who believe they should have won Sunday’s encounter.

Spinner Alex Hartley dropped a routine return catch that would have seen Australia veteran Alex Blackwell dismissed for 35. Instead, Blackwell finished unbeaten on 67 and guided her side to victory with a calm head.

While it’s hard to pinpoint one moment where a side loses a match, England head coach Mark Robinson says Hartley’s spill cost his charges the victory. 

“From the other day, we were gutted,” Robinson said.

“We should have won that game. If we took that catch, Alex’s catch, we win the game.

“But even without that, we were 15 (runs) light. We felt we missed a moment.

“As Heather (Knight) said, we have to give the girls a bit of a break because we haven’t played in four weeks, we’ve had very little grass practice as well.

“So with another game, we’re hoping that we’re further down the line for tomorrow.

“That’s the focus, as Heather said, we’re trying to focus on all the things we did right, trying to understand what it’s like to play under lights again, and get ready for tomorrow.”

An interrupted preparation, the Brisbane wicket and disciplined bowling all contributed to batters from both sides failing to capitalise on starts, with only Blackwell passing 50.

But Australia captain Rachael Haynes expects to see that batting rustiness rectified in Coffs.

“I think probably both sides would have liked a few more runs, be a bit more convincing with the bat,” Haynes said.

“We’ll probably see them a little bit stronger there I would’ve thought, some of the bigger players stand up and get some big runs as they’ve shown they can do in the past.

“We’ll obviously be looking to nullify that as much as we can.

“We’ve got some really nice momentum heading into this match now so looking forward to it.”

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes

Australia lead England 2-0

Australia squad (ODI and Test): Rachael Haynes (C), Alex Blackwell (VC), Kristen Beams, Nicole Bolton, Lauren Cheatle, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa (Test only), Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington.

England squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt.

Schedule

First ODI Australia won by two wickets

Brisbane Charity Partner: Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust

Second ODI Coffs International Stadium, October 26

Third ODI Coffs International Stadium, October 29

Coffs Junior Cricket Association Partners: Coffs Harbour District JCA, Nambucca Bellingen JCA, and Clarence River JCA

Day-Night Test North Sydney Oval, November 9-12

First T20 North Sydney Oval, November 17

North Sydney Charity Partner: McGrath Foundation

Second T20 Manuka Oval, November 19

Third T20 Manuka Oval, November 21

Canberra Charity Partner: Lord's Taverners ACT