Losing 16-0 has to be a good thing for England - here's why
OK, hear me out.
Losing the Women's Ashes 16-0 has been a very good thing for England.
It has been an absolutely brutal month in Australia, which started with Heather Knight trying to convince us (and her team) that England were pretty close to winning, and ended with a humiliating innings defeat in the Test match where not only did the wheels fall off, they splintered into a million pieces.
You may be wondering how that could possibly be positive news, but it is, simply because things cannot get any worse.
It means England - players and management - can no longer sweep aside the glaring problems that have been evident for around 18 months but have been repeatedly ignored.
When England were knocked out of the T20 World Cup by West Indies at the end of the group stage, we were told it came down to "a bad eight overs".
But actually, the concerns around buckling under pressure and lack of leadership have existed for far longer than that, and this Ashes series has seen England put under a microscope of scrutiny like never before.
Now, make no mistake, this team is made up of generational talents and brilliant individuals - perhaps this is what makes the result all the more infuriating to take.
To name a few, Sophie Ecclestone is likely to break every single bowling record in women's cricket history, Knight has had a difficult year but she has led the team admirably for nine years, and Nat Sciver-Brunt will be remembered as one of the finest cricketers of her era.
But this next period, leading into the World Cup in India at the end of the summer, will require some honest truths regarding the team's perception to the media and the fans, the management of young players coming through, and accepting just how far behind Australia they really are.
Only by accepting these facts, and being ruthless enough to implement the changes, will they be able to catch up.
Time to learn that off-field perceptions matter
Most of the problems facing England are likely to be solved by drawing inspiration from Australia's team culture and how they enforce high standards both on and off the field.
England have managed to create an image problem, regarding how they are perceived by their own fans in the UK and elsewhere.
Here in Australia, Jon Lewis' comments around their climate benefits and beach culture have given the opposition ample opportunity for mocking and media headlines, even when his team's performances were doing that for them anyway.
But where has this negative perception come from?
After the World Cup win in 2017, there was a joy and sense of anticipation around women's cricket in the UK that this triumph would be used as a springboard for success and growth, that the memory of a sold-out Lord's would go down in history as a defining moment for the game's new dawn.
Instead, progress has stalled and England have not won a trophy or an Ashes since, and when you are not winning and fans do not feel like they are getting value or the desired expectation from their team, they are rightly going to be asking why.
During the T20 World Cup in 2024, social media posts of England's players enjoying a day off on a yacht in Dubai did not help their cause and Lewis subsequently admitted this was something his players were going to learn from.
Of course, days off are allowed, and enjoyment on tour is allowed.
But so is scrutiny - and England need to accept and handle the fact this is what comes with the territory now. If you are paid and treated as a professional, you will be held to account like one.
This all came to a head after the second T20 of this Ashes when spinner Ecclestone, the best bowler in the world, refused to do an interview with her former team-mate turned pundit, Alex Hartley, who was working for Australia's Channel 7.
Hartley had criticised England's fitness after the World Cup but did not name any players - so by refusing the interview, the subject was thrust into the limelight once again but this time, the team's attitude and culture was entwined with it.
Media duties are part of a player's job, whether they enjoy doing them or not.
It is almost impossible to imagine an Australian player acting in the same way because - and this is the important point - their culture would not allow it.
They hold themselves to the highest standard in every aspect of cricket duty on and off the field, so while it was Ecclestone's refusal, the England management are also culpable because they enabled it.
People care - and that is a good thing
There has been a lot of attention on this Ashes series, not for the reasons that England would have liked, but that goes to show that the game is growing, and that people care.
When England did not win a single game of the 2022 series (they managed four points via washouts and a drawn Test), it felt like, in comparison to this, that practically went unnoticed.
The timings of this series have not been friendly for a UK audience, with the one-day internationals and the Test match starting in the early hours of dark, cold mornings, and yet people have been waking up to tune in and follow throughout.
We also know, from following the team over the past month, that England care too, but there is a sense that the fans are crying out for them to just show that a little bit more.
It is also worth saying that nobody is begrudging England losing to Australia - they are one of the greatest sports teams to have ever existed and it has been a genuine privilege to watch them up close on their home turf.
But the frustration is that Australia, at times, have not outplayed England - instead, they have been gifted opportunities to win by England's inabilities to do the basics, like catching the ball.
England need to accept that - with all respect to these opposition - sweeping aside Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa is not enough to prove themselves any more because Australia are the benchmark by which they are compared.
That comes down to performing under pressure - something that was raised after the Commonwealth Games defeat in 2022, the World Cup semi-final in 2023, the group-stage defeat in 2024 and now repeatedly during this Ashes.
So over nearly three years, England have not improved that mental edge of their game.
They cannot ignore it any longer, and it is fair to say that given the reaction to this Ashes defeat, their followers won't be letting it slide either.
How can this be fixed?
England have the benefit of a break from international cricket until May, when they will face West Indies and then they will face a tougher challenge as India arrive the following month.
Little was given away at the end of the Test match about the futures of Lewis and Knight, so we do not know what the leadership group will be by the time those series arrive.
A return to winning ways is likely to win back some favour for England but perceptions are unlikely to change fully until they win a World Cup or an Ashes, and the management of the players will have to shift drastically for that to happen.
Since his appointment in 2022, Lewis has given the players freedom both on and off the pitch, and preached his desire for aggressive cricket and a healthy work-life balance.
That is all fair, and it is a similar approach adopted by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum in the men's game, but it could be argued the women's game is not quite ready for that.
That is not to be taken as patronising, but simply an acknowledgement that the professionalism of women's cricket is very much in its infancy in comparison to men's, where players learn the structure and routine of being a professional athlete from a much earlier age and the system has been in place for far longer.
And one size does not fit all. Some players might thrive with that freedom but others might prefer a little more guidance, and it is the responsibility of a coach or manager to nurture those different personalities.
It all comes back to using the 16-0 clean sweep as the catalyst for change, both in performance and team perception.
There is no other option, otherwise the wheels - no matter how many times they are replaced - will continue to fall off.
