England manager John Lewis has criticized the “packed” schedule of the Women's Ashes and slammed the Indian Women's Premier League for the condensed nature of the tour.
The series begins in Sydney on January 12 and will feature three ODIs, three T20s and four-day Tests in five different cities, all in three weeks. With only four days between the end of the third T20 and the start of the pink-ball Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, there is also no time for the usual red-ball warm-up.
“My preference would be to have more space between games, but I think the players' preferences would be as well,” Lewis said. “I'm sure we had requested more space between the white-ball and Test matches, but the schedule is back as is.
“It's not going to be easy. The schedule is pretty packed. There's no flexibility because of WPL and Christmas.”
The WPL will officially begin on February 21, but players are likely to be required to acclimatize to India and interact with the media before the tournament begins. England's Alice Capsey, Nat Cyber-Blunt, Danny Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Dani Gibson will take part.
England announced their women's Ashes squad on Monday, featuring Freya Kemp, Lindsay Smith, Beth Heath and seamer Lyanna McDonald-Gay, who impressed on her recent Test debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein. Four players will be making their Ashes debut.
Lewis said England have deliberately fielded a larger-than-usual squad (19 players in total) due to their tough schedule and expects they will have to use all available resources to win the series. said. “It will be difficult for the players to play every game,” he said. “I don't think we're going to see consistent selection across the board from either side.”
The challenge is compounded by the fact that both teams have players gradually returning from injury. Lewis said Gibson, Cross and Freya Kemp were all “working towards returning to full fitness”, while Australian captain Alyssa Healy was playing as captain. After sustaining a knee injury in the WBBL, he played in the current ODI series against New Zealand as a pure batsman.
Lewis also committed to domestic red-ball competitions for English players as a way of ensuring better preparation for future Ashes. “Whenever you play Test cricket, it should be supported by several days of cricket at the domestic level,” he said. “If you're doing it at senior international level, there has to be some way of understanding how the players play. I think there's room for that in the domestic calendar.”
