Australia vs England women’s Ashes Test: Robert Craddock says time for English to show some fight

When England toured Australia three years ago, the Ashes produced a Test match which had two nations of the edge of their seats. Now, as ROBERT CRADDOCK writes, all we want it England to show a semblance of fight.

Come on England … lift. Surprise us. Take it on.

Make fools of the ghouls. Grab our attention. Be aggressive.

But for goodness sake … do something … ANYTHING!

Sadly, for the common fan, this is what it has come to.

A forlorn hope that England might spring to life and make a contest of the pink ball day-night Ashes Test at the MCG on Thursday for as much as local fans enjoy seeing one of the world’s best sporting sides dominate they also enjoy a spirited tussle.

Australia has been as great in this multi-format series as England have been poor.

Australia has won all six white ball games, retaining the Ashes and meaning this treasured Test match which had the potential to be a tub-thumping decider will have no bearing on the Ashes.

That is a setback because the MCG Test is Australia’s first day-night Ashes Test for seven years.

The outstanding Ellyse Perry scored a double century in the last day-night Test at North Sydney Oval and is still going strong.

Australia can be blessed that there is a poignant crossover of generations with senior players like Alyssa Healy and Perry setting benchmarks formerly upheld by the likes of Meg Lanning.

Whenever Australia loses a trophy match, such as the semi-final of the T20 World Cup last year, there are inevitable stories about how the gap between Australia and the rest of the world is closing.

But it’s a mirage. While the depth is getting stronger around the world so are the Aussie squads.

Australia is on the cusp of the Ashes whitewash.

Australia almost needs the occasional defeat, like last year’s loss to South Africa in the T20 World Cup, to use as smelling salts to rouse themselves into crusher mode and dominate the world.

England have been under fire after former star Alex Hartley questioned them for a perceived lack of fitness.

That’s about the biggest sledge you can give to a professional athlete because fitness should be a given to anyone doing the job full-time.

Sophie Ecclestone reacts during the T20 series.

It’s a bit like accusing a carpenter of not being able to hammer in a nail or a chef of not be able to boil an egg.

Had the accusation been made a decade or more ago you might have said “it’s just hard because the players are running from their day jobs to training …’’

But some of England’s players earn close to $1 million annually from the game. They have a bigger support staff than Australia.

The excuses are running dry. It is time to fire up.

Originally published as Australia vs England women’s Ashes Test: Robert Craddock says time for English to show some fight