England captain throws bat, Australia vow to ‘embarrass’ Poms with Ashes sweep

Australian’s women’s cricket team say they want to “embarrass” England in the Ashes after the Poms were cruelly denied a rare win.

Grace Harris says Australia wants to “embarrass” England with an Ashes clean sweep after rain cruelled the Poms hopes of a rare positive moment in the series on Thursday night.

A deluge of rain with just five balls left in the second T20 handed Australia a six-run victory in the second Ashes T20 as Australian captain Alyssa Healy declared her injured foot would have to “sawn off” to miss the series-ending Test match.

Watch every ball of The 2025 Women’s Ashes Series LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

Her English counterpart, Heather Knight, threw her bat on the ground in frustration as heavy rain began to fall at Manuka Oval in Canberra with her team needing 18 runs to finish off a gallant pursuit of Australia’s huge total of 5-185.

Rain had already impacted England’s positive chase of their first points in the series, with Australia already having done enough to retain the Ashes after winning all four opening games.

Finally spurred into action, England looked on track to reach the target before a double-wicket over from veteran Megan Schutt broke a dangerous 54-run partnership and removed red-hot batters Danni Wyatt-Hodge for 54 and then red-hot Sophia Dunkley (32 off 22 balls).

Watch Heather Knight’s frustrated reaction in the video above

England skipper Heather Knight couldn’t believe it. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Grace Harris of Australia reacts as Heather Knight reluctantly comes of the field with 5 balls remaining due to rain. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

But Schutt then conceded 17 runs from her final over, the most of any in the game, as Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt pounded out 65 runs in six overs to keep the hunt alive.

Sciver-Brunt was bowled with the final ball of the 19th over by Kim Garth, Knight whacked the first ball of the final over for four, but then the rain came down, and with England six runs behind par on the Duckworth-Lewis method the win was Australia’s.

After Australia retained the Ashes with a 8-8 draw in the previous series, the Aussies are determined to put the result beyond doubt in the remaining games.

“Of course I have thought about 16-0,” Harris told BBC Test Match Special after the win.

“A whitewash would be outstanding. England got the better of us in the last series.

“To me, it’s a loss, a draw is boring. But 16-0, that would be very, very good if we could embarrass this England team because they’re actually a very competitive outfit and they’ve got some really good players among them.”

Harris told Triple M: “I won’t be happy if we drop that third T20, put it that way.

“We want to embarrass the Poms here, not just beat them.”

Australia have held the women’s Ashes since 2013. 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.

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

Grace Harris wants Australia to sweep the series. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

“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.

“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.

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.”

HEALY RACING CLOCK TO PLAY ASHES TEST

Big news came on the boundary line where Healy, wearing a moonboot, declared she would do “everything” to take to the MCG as captain in the Test match after selectors picked her in the 12-player squad, as a batter only.

Healy, who played in the 2023 Ashes test at Trent Bridge with two broken fingers, said training next week would determine how much load her foot, which is being impacted by a stress reaction, could take and whether she could play.

“I think my foot might have to be physically sawed off before I’m not out there,” she told Channel 7 during the broadcast.

“I’m in a really fortunate position to be able to give it to the lats minute to prove my fitness, I’ll be doing everything I can to be out there.

“We’ve just tried to get off it as much as possible to give it time to settle. It’s just whether I can get through four days of cricket on my foot. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to keep me away.”

Australia now holds a 10-0 lead in the series, having retained the Ashes in the opening T20 win in Sydney, and her replacement as captain, Tahlia McGrath, has thrived in the skipper’s absence.

McGrath smashed 26 off off nine balls on Monday, and bettered that at Manuka Oval finishing unbeaten on 48 off 35 balls, while Harris, brought in as a T20 specialist, smashed three of her team’s four sixes in a 17-ball innings of 35 as they whacked 47 runs form the final three overs to set England the ungettable target.

:Injured captain Alyssa Healy wearing a moon boot as she helps out teammates in Canberra . (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

NOT EVEYRONE’S FIRING

Annabel Sutherland entered the Ashes on the back of two ODI hundreds and arguably the hottest batter on the planet.

But the 23-year-old star has not been able to match that form in her five innings in the series. Her 18 in Canberra was her best score, having made just 34 runs in the four bats before it.

Her runs have been made up by others in Australia’s victories, but not Ellyse Perry.

After carving out 60 in the second ODI, the veteran star has made just 11 runs, with three single figure scores including just two at Manuka Oval as the Aussist lost 3-7.

Across the five Ashes game, Perry, 34 has only 85 runs, and only one score above 29 in her past 10 innings for Australia across T20s and ODIs.

TEST SQUAD CONFIRMED

Both Healy, who was still in a moonboot in Canberra, and all-rounder Ash Gardner, who is likely to miss the third T20 with a calf issue, were named in Australia’s squad for the pink-ball Test, with no surprise inclusions from outside the group which has played the first five games. Women’s head selector, Shawn Flegler, said Healy would be given as much time as needed to recover with both the captain and Gardner to be monitored daily before the four day Test begins next Thursday.

“Alyssa has been named in the squad as a batter only and we’ll give her as much time as we can to prove her fitness ahead of the match,” he said. .

“Ash will continue to be assessed daily, and her availability for the 3rd T20 remains uncertain. At this stage she is on track to be available for the Test match.”

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Originally published as England captain throws bat, Australia vow to ‘embarrass’ Poms with Ashes sweep