Australia suffered their first ODI series loss against England since 2013, while the visitors had previously dropped a T20 series for the first time since 2017.
Despite Australia reclaiming the Ashes, England captain Heather Knight praised her team’s victory over Australia in the T20 and ODI series wins as “really special.”
After winning by the same margin in a three-match T20 series earlier this month, England won the third ODI Taunton on Tuesday to clinch a 2-1 series lead.
The T20 and 50-over world champions were able to retain the Ashes when the series ended 8-8 because to Australia’s victory in the June Test match, which was worth four points, as well as their two victories in limited overs.
Both the T20 series loss and the 50-over series defeat were Australia’s first since 2017, demonstrating the magnitude of England’s accomplishment.
The third ODI victory against Australia was discussed by England captain Heather Knight, who believes that there is still much opportunity for growth.
Regarding the 8-8 final series result, Knight commented, “I’m really thrilled, it’s a tie, isn’t it? “And we defeated the world champions and came away with two trophies, which is really special.”
After dropping the Test and first T20 match and falling behind 6-0, England appeared to be headed for a big loss, but they rallied back to win four of the next five games.
Even if we didn’t get the results, Knight added, “I think the fact that we’d come so close and gone toe-to-toe with Australia, in the Test and that first T20, I think it actually built more belief.”
“I think it was just keeping a very level head, accepting that we were in the situation but that there was a lot we could do about it,” said the speaker. We had the players to compete with this incredibly strong side, and we thought we were really close.
“Therefore, I think the staff also deserve a huge amount of credit for being able to keep us believing,” the worker said.
Healy: Australia’s “fighting spirit” is under doubt; Gardner says it seems a little filthy
After losing at Taunton, Australia was left with a “bittersweet” feeling as they raised the Ashes trophy. Captain Alyssa Healy acknowledged that the circumstances seemed “a little bit dirty.”
Although it is a touch bittersweet, Healy added, “We can tuck that little one away in the changing room.”
“And it feels a little bit dirty in a way, but saying that, we got the result we were after.”
Ash Gardner, the Ashes MVP for Australia, questioned if the visitors had displayed enough “fighting spirit” during the series after threatening to overtake England with a stunning 41 before being run out.
“It’s awful. Naturally, the reason we came here was to win the Ashes, Gardner remarked. We wanted to come over here and win it, so keeping it is nice, but I guess that’s definitely a little bit negative. Of course, we had the opportunity to win the Ashes, but we arguably didn’t fight hard enough when we should have.
“I believe there are many areas that need attention and improvements for the upcoming season. Simple things, and likely rediscovering our fighting spirit, which we may have lost throughout the series.
“We gave hints of it. I believe England outperformed us; they played a fairly courageous brand of cricket, and it is something we should consider for our team as well. We need make sure we keep moving forward and stepping up when it is essential.
Sciver-Brunt: England’s confidence is bolstered by limited-overs victories
Nat Sciver-Brunt, the Ashes player of the year, helped England win the final ODI by batting a second consecutive century to secure the 69-run victory.
The all-rounder claims that the home team’s limited-overs victories over Australia have “cemented belief” that they are on par with the world champions.
Being successful in the T20 and ODI series, said to Sciver-Brunt, “has really, I guess, cemented that belief.”
“It was undoubtedly there, but probably not in the pressure situations, and that’s where we’ve truly changed.
“We’re probably not where we want to be at the top, but we’ve come a long way, and the fact that this series has featured so many close games shows that, in my opinion.”
Charles Dagnall of Sky Sports Cricket termed England’s Ashes performance as “extraordinary” and cited the accomplishment of gaining numerous victories against a superior Australian team while coming back from a 6-0 deficit.
“It really is extraordinary, when you consider that for a decade Australia have been unbeaten in ODI cricket in bilateral series, this is the ICC 50-over world champs, and this is the ICC T20 world champs, and England have defeated them in both series,” Dagnall said.
“Now, with the score at 8-8, England loses the Ashes, but I believe they can look back on this with a great deal of pride and accomplishment.
“Okay, they wanted to win the Ashes, but that’s difficult. After the Test match and first T20 loss at Edgbaston, we all believed this could be a straightforward victory at 6-0.
“However, they returned in such a manner. Even though they lost the last match in the second ODI by only three runs, what a series it had been.
And I believe that England will believe they have made significant progress in closing the gap with Australia.
“Now, with the score at 8-8, England loses the Ashes, but I believe they can look back on this with a great deal of pride and accomplishment.
“Okay, they wanted to win the Ashes, but that’s difficult. After the Test match and first T20 loss at Edgbaston, we all believed this could be a straightforward victory at 6-0.
“However, they returned in such a manner. Even though they lost the last match in the second ODI by only three runs, what a series it had been.
And I believe that England will believe they have made significant progress in closing the gap with Australia.
“However, they returned in such a manner. Even though they lost the last match in the second ODI by only three runs, what a series it had been.
And I believe that England will believe they have made significant progress in closing the gap with Australia.
