Heather Knight says England must fight to win the Ashes but urged her team to “keep believing” after Australia swept the ODIs with an 86-run win in Hobart that leaves the hosts 6- 0 on points.
England must win all three T20s (worth two points each) and the one-off Test (worth four points) to win back the Ashes. However, Knight said they will take inspiration from their performance at home in 2023, when they battled back from losing the Test and first T20 to draw 8-8 in the series.
Related: Ashleigh Gardner fills one of the few gaps in her CV with her first international century | Geoff Citron
“It’s going to be tough,” the captain said. “But we’ve been here before. The last Ashes series was 6-0 and we were able to turn things around. We are still alive, we are still here and we must continue to believe in it.
England produced their best performance of the series, reducing Australia to 59 for four and reaching parity midway through the chase, but were unable to deliver the killing blow with the ball or the bat.
“We have to keep our composure,” Knight said. “Those key moments when the match was on the line, they seemed to handle them very well. We weren’t able to seize the opportunity and take the lead.
Ash Gardner, who scored his first international century, said the victory put Australia in a great position to retain the Ashes. “We can have great confidence in what we have done,” she said. “I guess England don’t have as much confidence as us. We should savor this.
Knight revealed Kate Cross was set to play in Hobart but England management decided not to risk a flare-up from her back injury, choosing instead to prioritize her fitness for the MCG Test which begins on January 30.
Cross will attend a Test Match training camp alongside Tammy Beaumont and Ryana MacDonald-Gay, while the rest of the squad will relocate to Sydney for the T20s.
“Having a format change will be really good for us,” Knight said. “T20 cricket is one of our best formats and this little reset will do us good.”