England will host South Africa and India this summer, in a packed schedule in which they will play at least 23 days of cricket including the Commonwealth Games.

The international summer will begin with a Test versus South Africa at Taunton from June 27 – June 30; and finish with the 3rd ODI against India at Lord’s on September 24, the day before the Home of Cricket also hosts the RHF Trophy Final.

The South Africa Test – the Proteas first Test against England since 2003, also played at Taunton – will be followed by 3 ODIs, at Northampton, Bristol and Leicester, and 3 T20s at Chelmsford, Worcester and Derby.

Following the Commonwealth Games in early August, India will then return to England in September, although several of the players will presumably have stayed on for The Hundred. India will play 3 T20s at Durham (in England’s first visit to The Riverside since the 2013 Ashes), Derby and Bristol, and 3 ODIs at Hove, Canterbury, and then finally Lord’s.

All games will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK, with 2 of the T20 matches also being shown on the BBC. This is in addition to the Commonwealth Games matches, which will also be available Free To Air, meaning we could see an unprecedented 11 England games broadcast FTA this summer, if England reach the Commonwealth Games final – more games in a single summer than have ever been shown FTA in the UK before.

This, in combination with the return of live cricket to London and the North for the first time in several years, represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow the game, and no one is more pleased than us; though shareholders of Premier Inn have allegedly been warned to brace themselves for significant financial losses as Syd books in for 23 all-you-can-eat breakfasts!

England v South Africa

Test

Monday June 27-Thursday June 30 @ Taunton

ODIs

Monday July 11 @ Northampton
Friday July 15 @ Bristol
Monday July 18 @ Leicester

T20s

Thursday July 21 @ Chelmsford
Saturday July 23 @ Worcester
Monday July 25 @ Derby

England v India

T20s

Saturday September 10 @ Durham
Tuesday September 13 @ Derby
Thursday September 15 @ Bristol

ODIs

Sunday September 18 @ Hove
Wednesday September 21 @ Canterbury
Saturday September 24 @ Lord’s

Alex Blackwell’s new book, Fair Game, is not your standard cricket autobiography. Yes, it tells the story of her journey in cricket – from growing up playing in the backyard of her grandparents’ place in Wagga Wagga, to breaking through into the New South Wales team while at university, to her Australian debut in 2003 against England under the great Belinda Clark, to winning multiple World Cups, captaining Australia to glory at the 2010 World Twenty20, and taking home the inaugural WBBL title in 2015/16. It’s also a first-hand insight into the ways in which professionalism transformed the lives of a generation of players overnight. But the most important contribution which this book makes is to lay bare the ways in which cricket has excluded and continues to exclude those who don’t quite fit the mould.

Blackwell is one such player. An outspoken advocate for increased diversity and equity in cricket, she made history in 2013 as the first international female cricketer ever to publicly come out. Here, it is made clear how much she agonised about that decision – unsurprising when she describes the constant background of casual homophobic remarks which went on, including from Cricket Australia employees and sponsors. “I was not viewed by Cricket Australia to be a good role model for young girls,” she writes. This kind of casualised homophobia did not come as a surprise to me – it is rife within English cricket, too, as my book Ladies and Lords shows – but it is still shocking to read about some of Blackwell’s experiences, and the way in which her experiences in cricket caused deep internal shame about her sexuality, which endured for years.

Relatedly, Blackwell emphasises how CA favoured a particular “image” for female cricketers, which forced gay players permanently into the closet but was equally damaging for non-gay women who did not conform to the favoured “type”. One of the most revealing lines in the book is when Blackwell relays how during her early years playing for Australia, she and her sister Kate toyed with the idea of growing their hair long, in order to market themselves as “the golden twins”. Another damning anecdote relates to the three women chosen by CA in 2013 to receive their first ever “marketing contracts”: Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning and Holly Ferling – all blonde, attractive and heterosexual. You would have to be blind not to have realised that this was going on – just look at which players were most visible in the marketing of the first WBBL – but Blackwell’s book lays bare the horrendous practice (which, if we’re honest, is still prevalent) of pushing forward players on the basis of their physical attractiveness rather than their cricketing abilities.

Why was Blackwell never chosen to captain Australia on a permanent basis? A convincing public explanation has never been given as to why she was passed over in favour of Lanning in 2014 – a player with no captaincy experience at any level of cricket – nor why Rachael Haynes (then not even an automatic pick in the XI) was handed the reins during the 2017 World Cup, when Lanning was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Blackwell says that she has never been given a reason, other than being told: “Meg had all the attributes they wanted in a captain and I didn’t”. She stops short of saying that those attributes included being heterosexual and taciturn, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots.

The irony of all this is that CA’s treatment of Blackwell may well have ultimately cost Australia their chance of winning the 2016 and 2017 World Cups. Blackwell’s most damning critique of an individual comes in the chapters which deal with these two tournaments, in which she describes how Australia’s coach Matthew Mott stuck to a limited, basic tactical approach – “bowl at the stumps” – leaving the players without any Plan B in the 2016 WT20 final against Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor, and more famously against Harmanpreet Kaur at Derby in the 2017 semi-final. Blackwell relays how, as vice-captain, she continually tried to raise concerns; but others simply parroted the party line. It’s a brilliant example of why diversity is needed within organisations: somebody needs to tell you the thing you don’t want to hear, or it becomes all about group-think.

Meanwhile, Blackwell’s alternative views about tactics were “shut down” and she was publicly criticised by Mott in meetings, to the extent that she was left in tears. “That tournament was one of the toughest periods of my cricket career,” Blackwell writes. “Throughout every day of it I felt undervalued and insignificant.” It’s rare to read anything critical of Mott, but this is one of the worst examples of player mismanagement I’ve ever come across. Let’s hope things have changed behind the scenes since then.

It’s rare that we get this kind of book in women’s cricket – an honest, wide-ranging critique – and Blackwell should be awarded for her bravery in writing it (credit too to Megan Maurice, who has done a brilliant job of making this book very readable). The timing is perhaps explained by Blackwell’s recent decision to draw a line under her involvement in elite cricket in Australia:

“Maybe I would feel more inclined to keep holding on and continue volunteering in cricket if I was confident that we were setting a high standard and being bold with our ambitions around female representation, inclusion strategies and the environment. Instead I still feel like raising these issues makes a lot of people uncomfortable.”

This is worrying not just as an indictment of the current culture of cricket in Australia. Part of the problem has always been that those IN the game right now don’t feel they can be open about the ways in which things are going wrong – there is a culture of secrecy, whereby those on the inside close ranks.

It’s important that we remember that this isn’t a book about a dark and distant past – as Blackwell writes, “there are still some barriers to inclusion and equal opportunity that remain unconquered”. Her book is a great first step to exposing some of those issues. The next step is for those within CA (and the ECB, and the other boards around the world) to listen, acknowledge, and act as a result – but will they? That would be the best legacy of this brave and revealing book.

Buy the book.

England have announced a party of 17 – 15 squad players, plus two travelling reserves – to defend their World Cup crown in New Zealand next month.

Thunder opening batter Emma Lamb, who made her ODI debut in the final match of the Women’s Ashes, is included in the main squad, having been the stand-out performer with the bat on the ‘A’ tour; whilst uncapped fast bowler Lauren Bell, who was the joint-leading wicket-taker for England ‘A’, has been named as one of two travelling reserves, alongside Mady Villiers.

Leg-spinner Sarah Glenn and batter Maia Bouchier are the two to miss out from England’s main Ashes squad. Both played in the T20 leg of the Ashes, but neither did in either the Test or the ODIs.

England’s batting lineup takes care of itself, with Sophia Dunkley certain to return to the order having been left out of the final Ashes ODI to temporarily bring in an extra bowler to allow Nat Sciver a rest from bowling.

England’s key challenge will be managing their fast-bowling unit, especially Katherine Brunt who missed the final two ODIs with a “niggle”, across what they hope will be 9 games – 7 group matches, plus the semi-final and final. Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, who is bowling better than she has for quite some time, and Kate Cross, who has been England’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs over the past two years, look to be the first-choice options, with Freya Davies and Tash Farrant rotating in and out, and Lauren Bell waiting on the sidelines in case of injuries or COVID.

Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean are the only front-line spinners in the squad, although Emma Lamb bowls regularly in domestic cricket, and her off-spin could be an option for England to turn to, especially if they choose to play 3 quicks.

England arrived in New Zealand in the early hours of this morning UK time to begin 10 days of “MIQ” [Managed Isolation and Quarantine] prior to the tournament, which begins on March 4 with the hosts taking on West Indies, with England’s first game versus Australia the following day.

Possible Starting XI

1. Tammy Beaumont
2. Emma Lamb
3. Heather Knight
4. Nat Sciver
5. Sophia Dunkley
6. Amy Jones
7. Danni Wyatt
8. Katherine Brunt
9. Sophie Ecclestone
10. Anya Shrubsole
11. Kate Cross

Full Squad

Heather Knight (Western Storm, Captain)
Tammy Beaumont (Lightning)
Katherine Brunt (Northern Diamonds)
Freya Davies (South East Stars)
Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers)
Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars)
Kate Cross (Thunder)
Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder)
Tash Farrant (South East Stars)
Amy Jones (Central Sparks)
Emma Lamb (Thunder)
Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds, Vice-Captain)
Anya Shrubsole (Western Storm)
Lauren Winfield-Hill (Northern Diamonds)
Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)

Travelling Reserves

Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers)
Mady Villiers (Sunrisers)

“Don’t go for second best baby – put your cricket to the test,” as Madonna didn’t quite sing on her 1989 hit Express Yourself. England talk a lot about the batters “expressing themselves”; but it’s something they’ve had little chance to do in the ODI leg of this Ashes series, as Australia’s bowlers have turned the screw ever tighter.

England rolled the dice by bringing in Emma Lamb to open the batting in place of Lauren Winfield-Hill, who has gone more than 5 years without passing 50 for England. Lamb had a good ‘A’ series, but coming into an Ashes series is a step up at the best of times, and with just one game to prove herself against the rampant opening bowling of Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt, the pressure was really on the Lancashire Thunder player.

And it didn’t work out – Lamb falling to a lovely delivery from Perry that was pitched up and moved late, for a 2-ball duck. But this absolutely wasn’t a case of Lamb having been tried and failed – she can’t be judged on one innings, especially if the other option is to go back to Winfield-Hill, who has been given the benefit of the doubt for the best part of fifty innings!

And the bottom line anyway is that nobody has really “succeeded” for England in this ODI series. Tammy Beaumont got to 50 today, but it was the slowest 50+ innings of her ODI career at a Strike Rate of 49.5, and she couldn’t push on. Nat Sciver made an even slower 46 at a Strike Rate of 48.4, which was the slowest ODI innings she’s ever played having reached double-figures.

England have now been whitewashed in their last two ODI series versus Australia, and they haven’t beaten them in an ODI since 2017. And far from closing, the gap appears to be widening – England’s batters just can’t score runs against Australia, it’s getting worse, and today they looked like a side that knew it.

And yet whilst England have come up second-best against Australia again and again, they’ve maintained a win percentage against everybody else of over 70%. Add matches against everyone else to that chart, and the “Ashes Dips” versus Australia in 2019 and now in 2022 are startling apparent, amid what’s otherwise a decent record.

This is what England need to take away from this series – they have come up second-best against Australia, but they are still the second-best team in the world; and that’s not a bad place to be going into a World Cup. It’s not going to be easy to keep believing that through 10 days of hard quarantine in New Zealand, but believe it they must.

As for Australia, they go to New Zealand perhaps firmer favourites for the title than they’ve ever been, having lost just once in their past 30 ODIs against all-comers. With the Ashes wrapped-up, the tournament is theirs to lose – for Lanning & co, second best will not be good enough.

This week – a ‘Where did it all go wrong?’ special!

• Where did it all go wrong for England ‘A’?
• Where did it all go wrong for England?
• Where did it all go right for Kate Cross?

Australia stomped all over England at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Sunday, winning the match with 88 balls to spare after bowling England out for 129 in 45.2 overs.

England had talked up the remaining two matches of the Ashes with the suggestion that their aim was to repeat their 2017/18 comeback, and draw the series on points. Perhaps it was for that reason that they chose to stick with an almost-identical XI to the first ODI (Katherine Brunt was rested with a “niggle”), refusing to hand match-practice to Lauren Bell or Freya Davies ahead of the World Cup, or tinker with their batting line-up. It seems pretty certain that England will be sticking with Lauren Winfield-Hill at the top of the order for the World Cup, come what may.

England reached 40 for 1 after 10 overs but it was downhill from there, as Ellyse Perry (3 for 12) pulled out the kind of disciplined bowling performance which leaves England fans waking up in a cold sweat with flashbacks of July 2019. There were two phenomenal catches from Australia – Alyssa Healy diving to her right behind the stumps to see off Tammy Beaumont, before Meg Lanning topped it with a screamer taken full-stretch to HER right at first slip.

They fought hard with the ball – Kate Cross once again dispelling the bizarrely persistent claims that she is a “red ball specialist” with a brilliant couple of spells – but as so often in this series, the bowlers couldn’t make up for the fact that the batters let England down – badly.

Watching the top-order today, you’d be hard-pressed to find any evidence of England’s pre-series “fighting fire with fire” strategy. Too often, they got stuck in the crease when they needed to be attacking the ball – five wickets fell LBW. England also, once again, used their DRS reviews poorly. Sophia Dunkley’s reluctance to make the “T” signal told a thousand stories; she really should have stood up to Amy Jones, who appeared to have talked her into the review. It probably didn’t make much difference in the end today – although Cross could have saved herself, with replays showing the LBW decision against her was actually missing leg-stump – but on another occasion (a World Cup semi-final, say) it could be crucial. England get far more practice with DRS than most other sides in the world, and need to get better at using it to their advantage.

So… what next? There are obvious parallels with the misery of the Canterbury ODI in July 2019, when Perry ran through England’s batters, finishing with 7 for 22, and effectively sealed England’s fate in the series. The media were unforgiving; and when England coach Mark Robinson was hastily dispatched at the end of the series, it seemed the blame for the humiliation of Canterbury was being laid square on his shoulders.

I think, ultimately, this defeat won’t “land” in quite the same way that one did. For one, England had already surrendered the Ashes this time around. For another, the fact that their World Cup defence will commence in a matter of weeks means that there is another immediate goal to focus on. There is no sense in beginning any post-mortems at this point.

But… that could simply be delaying the inevitable. Because if England play like they did today in New Zealand next month, their title is going to slip away quicker than you can say “Ellyse Perry”; and if there is one thing worse than losing the Ashes to Australia, it is losing the Ashes AND a World Cup crown to Australia in the space of two months.