Women's Ashes: England head coach Jon Lewis says skill and discipline, not fitness, to blame for series defeat in Australia

England head coach Jon Lewis feels his team "poked the bear" when they drew 2023 Ashes; Australia lead ongoing contest 10-0 and eying 16-0 sweep; Lewis says Southern Stars are more "athletic" than England but insists that is not the reason for series defeat

Friday 24 January 2025 14:33, UK

Head coach Jon Lewis says "discipline and skill level" are the reasons England have lost the Women's Ashes, not fitness.

England are 10-0 down on points in Australia after five successive defeats, with the tourists swept 3-0 in the one-day international leg and then beaten in the first T20 internationals.

Former England spinner Alex Hartley, now a BBC pundit, questioned the side's fitness after their group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup last October, a criticism Lewis rejected at the time.

The England boss admits his team are not as "athletic" as Australia, which he puts down in large part to "cultural differences".

But he is adamant the difference between the nations is due to the dominant Southern Stars performing better in key moments.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's third and final T20 international in Adelaide (8.10am UK and Ireland), Lewis said: "I would say Australia are a much more athletic team than us, more agile, they look faster, at times, they look more powerful.

"Is that the reason that we're not winning cricket matches here? No. I think their discipline and their skill level has been higher.

"It's an area of the game that we work on continually - all of our players do. We work really hard on it.

'Australia have advantage in terms of athleticism'

"I walked from Bondi to Coogee the other Sunday morning and pretty much the whole of the eastern suburbs of Sydney were out swimming in the sea, running and walking.

"There's a cultural difference as well in terms of Australia versus England, so comparing the two nations I think is slightly different. Our talent pool at the moment is small and I definitely think Australia have an advantage in terms of athleticism.

"We definitely need to get faster and we can access more power for sure. If you're talking about whether or not we can run marathons, we don't need to. We need to be fit for purpose."

Hartley revealed England spinner Sophie Ecclestone refused an interview with her during the Ashes after her comments about the squad's fitness late last year, which she says have led to her being "given the cold shoulder and "hung out to dry".

Lewis said he wished Ecclestone had spoken and insisted the team have no problems. with the press.

"We've got a really healthy respect for the media," he said. "I don't think there's any issues."

Lewis: England 'poked the bear' with 2023 Ashes draw

Australia all-rounder Grace Harris taunted England after her team's six-run win in the rain-hit second T20 in Canberra, saying they wanted to "embarrass" their opponents by sweeping the series 16-0 - which will happen if they achieve victory in the T20 finale and the day-night Test in Melbourne from January 30.

England fought back from 6-0 down to draw the previous Ashes series 8-8 at home in 2023, but the best result they can now achieve in 2025 is a 10-6 defeat.

Lewis said: "If you look at the Ashes in 2023, I think we poked the bear a little bit. Australia have gone away and reset. The scoreline is bigger but I don't think the gap is.

"We won those critical moments in games last time, and they have turned them on their side in this series.

"We are clearly disappointed we haven't got the results but I think we've been more competitive than the scoreline suggests.

"I expected this to be a really, really hard tour for us to come and compete and win.

"They're an exceptional team, playing on a home soil, they have been world-beating for a long period of time and we've got a developing group of cricketers."