Australia wants to be first team to win Ashes 16-0 after taking 10-0 lead

Australia is on an 11-match winning streak and taking it to 13 would create the all-conquering team their own slice of cricket history.

No team has ever won the multi-format Ashes 16-0 and that historical feat remains Australia’s target with one T20 and a Test match to come and England on its knees having been denied a chance at first points by rain in Canberra.

Australia is on an 10-match winning streak, across both ODIs and T20s, since failing in their bid to win a fourth straight T20 World Cup last year.

But it’s not so much failure driving the Ashes mission as it is securing the trophy won in 2023 despite losing four of the final six white-ball games. That series was drawn 8-8, enough for Australia to retain the Ashes, a feat accomplished this time by winning the opening four games.

The fifth victory was a closer affair, England needing 18 runs with five balls left, captain Heather Knight swinging and adamant she felt “like I could get us over the line” before rain intervened with Australia ahead by six runs on the DLS.

Heather Knight thought she could steer her side home. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Giving the visitors a sniff could be enough to re-engage the Aussies, with stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath headed home to Adelaide for the third and final T20 before a Test match that could mark the return of Alyssa Healy from the foot injury that has sidelined her for the past two games.

“(A whitewash) would be pretty special to us,” McGrath said in the wake of the Canberra win.

“The Ashes (in 2023), retaining them in England didn’t quite sit well with us, and we’ve been hungry for a while, looking forward to these Ashes for a very long time.

“We’ve been playing some really good cricket, but we still feel like there’s areas to improve.

Injured captain Alyssa Healy trains in a moon boot in Canberra. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“I’m pretty excited to be playing at home at Adelaide Oval and then that MCG Test match.

“Test matches don’t come around too often, let alone a pink-ball day-night at the MCG, so we are very excited and very keen to finish off this series really well.

“We just keep saying that it’s not over yet. We’re not done.”

England failed to win a match on their last visit in 2021-22 as well but still walked away with four points courtesy of two washed-out T20Is and a drawn Test.

"It was just frustration at the situation, not the umpires, it was the right decision to take us off."

Heather Knight admitted after the game that the right call was made #Ashespic.twitter.com/H1JOecvkvk

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 23, 2025

Knight conceded her team was “frustrated and hurting” about their performances but dismissed suggestions her captaincy was under pressure.

“I guess in any leadership position, you always feel the responsibility when the teams aren’t performing well and we haven’t performed as well as we want to across the board,” she said.

“It’s certainly frustrating, but that’s not really a question for now. I’m just focused on what we need to do to try and win the next game and try and turn things around. Whatever happens at the end of the tour, that’ll be a conversation for later.”

Originally published as Australia wants to be first team to win Ashes 16-0 after taking 10-0 lead