Ashes series Disaster and Review: Designed to Change Everything. Did It Succeed?
England have been eliminated from the World Cup following a defeat in a match they were expected to win, thanks to a one-off innings which took everyone by surprise. Sound familiar? This is because it applies to two events involving England which occurred almost exactly a year separated: on Wednesday, their 50-over semi-final exit at the hands of South Africa; a year ago, their defeat in a must-win group stage match against West Indies in the 20-over version.
What Happened Next
During that time, there was a whitewash in the Ashes and a post-series review which was meant to change everything. Was it successful? Let’s look a little more closely into those two World Cup eliminations. In 2024, England fell to pieces, missed multiple opportunities, and allowed a bish-bash-bosh innings from Qiana Joseph to seal the match. More recently, a player with beautiful technique and temperament – the South Africa captain, Laura Wolvaardt – showed why she is one of the world’s best batters. She gave precisely one chance – a catch to Alice Capsey at long-on – and England held on to it. The trouble was, she had already scored 169 runs by that point.
‘It’s painful’: The coach turns to next generation after England’s World Cup defeat.
It probably won’t bring the England head coach, Charlotte Edwards, much consolation as she flies home from her first World Cup in charge – she is a performance-focused leader, and a loss is a loss. But she has initiated positive changes. From the low point of multiple fielding errors in a single day of Test cricket in Melbourne, six months later England held on to more chances this World Cup than any other team. That’s an improvement.
England’s Innings Struggles
The problem was what came after Wolvaardt’s knock. Was there anyone inside that England dressing room truly confident they were able to reach a total of more than 300? Certainly no one outside it did. England’s collapse to 0/2 and 1/3 provoked a reaction not of horror but of weary inevitability.
“We do need to enhance our batting performance – I don’t think it’s been consistent enough at times,” Edwards said after the match. This highlights the problem. There have been eight totals of more than 300 in this tournament: a portion were hit by Australia, three by India, and two by South Africa. This is now standard in women’s ODI cricket: in order to rival the world’s best, England need a batting order which can realistically aim to exceed that milestone. But when nobody except Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight has a track record of regularly making meaningful runs, well, the numbers speak for themselves.
Partnership Efforts
Capsey’s 105-run partnership with Sciver-Brunt in the semi-final had some value – Capsey showed that she can bat sensibly, at least for 70 balls – but it was never going to be enough to win the game. Compare and contrast with South Africa, who were able to add 117 runs from their last 10 overs, exceeding the magic 300, because Wolvaardt had faith in the batters following her and felt she had enough freedom to hit out. “Knowing what we still had in the sheds with the last 10 coming up, I thought I’d better have a swing,” she told Sky Sports.
Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt were the sole consistent performers to score runs consistently during the tournament.
Coaching Dilemmas
When Edwards was hired in April, her dilemma was whether to stick or twist: she chose to allow an veteran team who had bombed in the Ashes one last shot at World Cup glory. She got it wrong. England return home with the least favorable outcome: empty-handed, and with little basis on which to restructure over the next four years. Five of their top six from the semi-final are probably not featuring in another 50-over World Cup.
A change of approach is now approaching, as Edwards herself indicated. “This is the end of an ODI cycle,” she said. “We’ve got to look at the future now.”
Future Prospects
Better late than never: time to look seriously at the young left-hander Grace Scrivens, the young wicketkeeper Seren Smale and the teenage spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman.
A persistent concern is that it might be overdue: England’s latest round of central contracts were finalized on 1 October. The cricket board has not yet published a full list of retained athletes, but it isn’t difficult to work out that the current World Cup squad are the primary recipients.
The Path Ahead
Lack of progress and overconfidence were the twin problems on which the Ashes sweep was built – time for Edwards to signal that she is serious about preventing their return.