England need a reset and a new direction.
And if imitation is the greatest form of flattery, England should be heading en masse to the metaphorical Baggy Green shop.
I spoke to some Australians to find out what they’d do if they were in the England team’s shoes.
Former international Mel Jones says it starts with honesty: “There can be no wishy-washy comments like ‘we’re close’ or ‘we’re only a session away’. That’s not right. There needs to be that reflection on personal, individual performances and team performance.”
Compare that to what England’s Alice Capsey said after the decisive second ODI where England failed to chase 180: “We can’t control what they do, but what we can do is we can control how we plan, how we prepare and what we want to do when we go on to the pitch.”
Then look at what Ashleigh Gardner said on Australia trying to put the world’s best bowler Sophie Ecclestone off her game in the third ODI: “I tried to put pressure back on Ecclestone, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I guess it made her change something, and that was what I was trying to do.”
Semantics, or evidence of an underlying proactivity and aggression that permeates Australian cricketing culture?
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