Stars coach lauds 'fairer' points system

Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars coach Matthew Mott has welcomed the revamped points system for the women's Ashes, saying it won't hand an unfair advantage to the team who wins the one-off Test in Canterbury next month.

Speaking ahead of his team’s departure to the UK on Monday, Mott said the revised points system - which will be used for the first time in this series - is far more balanced than its predecessor.

Under the old system, a Test match victory was worth six points while Twenty20s and one-day internationals carried a two-point weight.

The heavy weighting of the Test was one of the central reasons for England's Ashes triumph 18 months ago, who claimed the trophy despite Australia winning more matches throughout the series.

Watch: fantastic insight as Meg Lanning is mic'd up

"I think it’s a fairer system looking at it, the weighting of it is just about right," Mott said of the changes.

"Whether you win or lose that Test match, it doesn’t really disadvantage or advantage you in the whole scheme of things."

In the past decade, the Southern Stars have played eight Test matches – including seven against the England women - for two wins, three draws and three losses.

But despite their record in the longest form of the game, Mott says the team's recent history in limited overs cricket will go a long way to making amends for their Ashes loss on home soil 18 months ago and their unsuccessful tour of the UK in 2013.

Quick Single: Stars can't wait to right Ashes wrongs

"The team’s record speaks for itself over the last ten years but the one thing that has eluded us is the Ashes," he said.

"I think it's 2001 since the last time the team has won in England, (so) there is a lot of payback ready and the girls are really excited about the upcoming opportunity coming up."

Image Id: ~/media/9BEE521EC61F49BBBFF6F5529A9D9D24

Southern Stars skipper Meg Lanning // Getty

And with the men’s team losing their opening Test match against England in Cardiff – where Mott spent three years as head coach of Glamorgan – the coach knows exactly how important an early lead in the series will be

"It is really important (to win the first match), you only have to read the headlines ... so much you do is put on that first game in the series," he said.

"I thought a draw (in Cardiff) might be quite likely, that certainly was the best place for England to play against our men’s attack.

"Lord’s will be a different game all together, I think our fast bowlers will come into the game a lot more, nip around a lot more. It’ll be interesting to see what wicket they serve up.

"Setting the tone early in the series is key. You’d much rather be 1-0 up in the series than 1-0 down, that’s for sure."

Captain Meg Lanning was part of the unsuccessful Ashes campaign in 2013 and said she will be aggressive in trying to regain the Ashes in England for the first time in 14 years.

Image Id: ~/media/B89E14BAC0E74B358BF36486ABCDF339

The Southern Stars in Melbourne before flying to the UK // Getty

"It’s the one thing that we haven’t been able to win (and) the group is very fired up to change that," Lanning said.

"We’ve been able to introduce a couple of new girls which I think is great, the main difference is we have a better understanding of our own games.

"The most important this is that we stick to our plans and really take the game on and be really attacking. That’s the natural style of our team so we’ve been able to do that throughout all the World Cups that we’ve played so the Ashes is the time to do that as well."

In addition to counting towards the Ashes, the first three ODIs later this month carry extra weight as they count towards qualification to the ICC Women’s Championships, with the top-four ranked nations gaining automatic entry into the World Cup in 2017.

Cricket.com.au will provide live coverage, news and highlights from the women's Ashes, starting in Taunton on July 21