England primed to threaten Aussies in Ashes opener

England will head into Tuesday’s opening women’s Ashes one-dayer with a full-strength squad of players full of confidence and on a run of 14 consecutive victories.

The hosts revealed their 14-player squad for the first ODI of the multi-format series on Saturday, the same day they romped to an emphatic 81-run win over the touring Australia A side in Loughborough.

England ODI squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Jenny Gunn, Amy Jones, Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt

England’s last defeat in any format came in the second one-dayer against India in Mumbai in late February and in the months since, they’ve gone unbeaten to a T20 series against India, a six-match tour of Sri Lanka and this month’s home limited-overs matches against West Indies.

"It’s getting much harder to even pick a squad 14, let alone an XI to go on the pitch," England opener Tammy Beaumont told cricket.com.au in Leicester on Sunday.

"(That’s) great for us, not having quite as many professional cricketers as the Australians to pick from, so it’s great we’re growing that talent pool."

In a boost for England, Heather Knight has recovered as expected from the tight hamstring that saw her rested from last week’s final T20 against West Indies – the English skipper training at Leicester’s Grace Road on Saturday – while the presence of star pair Sarah Taylor and Katherine Brunt, who were both absent from last year’s T20 World Cup final defeat to Australia will be a welcome sight for the home fans.

The England selectors have at least one major decision to make for Tuesday’s match; with middle-order batters Fran Wilson and Danni Wyatt both finding form in recent games.

Wilson – who filled in for rested allrounder Natalie Sciver in the third ODI against West Indies earlier this month and took a remarkable diving catch in the process – struck 91 against a full-strength Australian attack in a warm-up match in Loughborough on Friday.

Wyatt, after scores of 8, 3 and 12 in the Windies ODIs, has since struck 81 in the second T20 against the same opposition (the first and third games of the series washed out) before scoring an impressive 93 from 76 against Australia A on Saturday.

England will be buoyed by Saturday’s hit out against Australia. Resting key players including Brunt, Taylor, Knight and Anya Shrubsole from the 50-over warm-up game, Wyatt’s innings and impressive performances from Beaumont (62), Amy Jones (42) and Lauren Winfield (47) led the hosts to 8-341.

Then, Laura Marsh (4-48) and Kate Cross (3-38) helped keep the Australians to 9-260 from their 50 overs.

"We’re feeling good having been out there and played some good cricket, we rested a few players and still got a good result," Beaumont said.

England’s 14-player squad has been selected only for the first ODI of the multi-format Ashes, which features three one-dayers, one Test and three T20Is.

"You play cricket for series like this, they're special, so we're all just raring to go," captain Heather Knight said.

"It wasn't an easy squad to pick. We've won 14 games in a row and during that time different people have performed and stuck their hand up. That bodes well for the Ashes and hopefully we can maintain that form throughout this series."

The first Ashes ODI begins at 2pm local time on Tuesday (11pm AEST) with all seven matches of the multi-format series to be broadcast live and free on the Nine Network, while the ABC will provide radio coverage.

CommBank Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

June 26: Australia beat England Academy by six wickets

June 28:  Australia beat England Academy by 68 runs

July 2: First ODI, Grace Road, Leicester

July 4: Second ODI, Grace Road, Leicester

July 7:  Third ODI, St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury

July 11-13: England Academy v Australia, Marlborough College, Swindon

July 18-21: Only Test, The County Ground, Taunton

July 26: First T20, County Ground, Chelmsford

July 28: Second T20, The County Ground, Hove

July 31: Third T20, Bristol County Ground, Bristol

A Test victory is worth four points (two each for a draw), two points are awarded for ODI and T20 wins