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Australia have no doubt benefited from their enviable depth across a series that will have as many as 10 match days squeezed into little more than two weeks, as they have brushed aside England to now be within sight of the first Women’s Ashes clean sweep since the multi-format series was introduced.
Geoff Lemon suggests Australia’s dominance allowed them the luxury of playing funny buggers at the selection table, while also looking at the other important women’s cricket match that took part in Melbourne yesterday.
Right now Australia could pick eight players and three lucky-dip winners from the crowd and still come out on top.
Now for the weather. After sunny but relatively cool conditions yesterday there is a touch of cloud around ahead of the start of day two in Melbourne. England have stacked their attack with pacers, which could work in their favour even with a ball that is already 22 overs old.
🌤️Mild, dry and partly cloudy in the south.
☀️Warm, dry and sunny in the north.🌡️Temperatures close to average.
Areas of smoke over western districts.🌬️Moderate south to southeasterly winds.
Heat returns to much of the state from Saturday. pic.twitter.com/FDEzL6nF0N
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 30, 2025
An Ashes campaign that began with high hopes for a close contest especially after the tied series 18 months ago has drifted towards a focus on whether a dominant Australia side can complete a clean sweep over their rivals England. Even with renewed incentive to avoid such a humiliation, England were unable to get a foothold in the Test on day one as Maia Bouchier was dismissed in the opening over and Australia had too much firepower in their attack.
Raf Nicholson was at the MCG as England failed to live up to the occasion of the first Women’s Test at the venue in 76 years, while Alana King turned back the clock even further with yet another masterful display of leg-spin.
As Alana King spun her web around England – taking four for 45 as the visitors fell to 170 all out in 71.4 overs – the spirit of another leg-spinner echoed around the ground. No, not Shane Warne but Peggy Antonio, the Melburnian factory-worker who took six for 49 the first time a women’s Test was played at this ground, in January 1935.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of day two of the Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG. Australia will resume on 56 for 1 after dismissing England for 170 in front of more than 11,000 fans yesterday, with Phoebe Litchfield (20) and Annabel Sutherland (24) back at the crease in about 45 minutes.
The hosts are in a commanding position after Kim Garth and Darcie Brown set the tone with the new ball, then leg-spinner Alana King ripped through the England middle-order to continue her superb series. Nat Sciver-Brunt was the only batter to go on with a start as she passed fifty for the seventh time in Tests but lacked enough partners to build a decent first-innings total for the tourists. King showed that there is enough life in the pitch to whet the appetite of the likes of Sophie Ecclestone, though Australia have selected an especially deep batting line-up stacked with supposed all-rounders.
Australia will be sweating on the fitness of Ellyse Perry who injured a hip while fielding yesterday. The all-rounder was bumped down the order, with Sutherland stepping in at No 3 after Georgia Voll’s dismissal in her debut Test, but it remains to be seen whether Perry will be able to return to play at all.
First ball will be at 2.30pm local time / AEDT or 3.30am GMT. In the meantime, let us know your predictions or just expectations for the day ahead – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!