Whether or not England wish to admit it or not, they’ve a degree to show.
Simply over a month after their disastrous group-stage exit from the Girls’s T20 World Cup, Heather Knight’s facet are in South Africa for a multi-format collection, which is adopted by the Girls’s Ashes in Australia in January.
The primary of three T20s begins on Sunday (12:00 GMT), adopted by three one-day internationals after which a four-day Check begins on 15 December. You’ll be able to ball-by-ball radio commentary on each recreation on the BBC Sport web site and app, plus dwell textual content updates.
It’s a fast turnaround from such a disappointing World Cup marketing campaign however seamer Kate Cross, who’s within the ODI and Check squads, feels that can profit England.
“Years in the past, for those who have been knocked out of a World Cup, you needed to wait till your summer time to play cricket once more and show your self,” Cross advised BBC’s No Balls podcast.
“However I really feel like cricket has been again on our horizon so shortly after that, in opposition to the crew who misplaced the ultimate, so we all know we have got an opportunity to measure ourselves in opposition to a very robust crew in their very own situations and also you’re again within the combat right away.”
The fallout from the World Cup was probably the harshest that an England ladies’s facet has confronted, a stark reminder of the elevated scrutiny and expectation that comes with the privilege of being knowledgeable athlete.
The crew’s fitness was questioned, alongside their off-field actions and social media presence.
Knight and head coach Jon Lewis rejected the accusations and understandably defended their crew, however acknowledged their want to enhance in stress moments – although that’s one thing they’ve been saying for nearly two years.
In opposition to South Africa, finalists of mentioned World Cup, England have an opportunity to vary these perceptions earlier than getting into the Ashes stress cooker.
