'It's time to accept it - England are nowhere near Australia'

The ongoing Women's Ashes successful Australia was tipped to beryllium the closest contention betwixt the 2 sides for a decade.

The spread betwixt the legendary Australians and an improving, laser-focused England was closing - oregon truthful the mentation went.

The erstwhile bid successful 2023 was drawn, some teams were eliminated aboriginal from the autumn's T20 World Cup and had a constituent to prove, and England had learned from past mistakes.

Fast guardant to 4 games of one-sided cricket aboriginal and England person conceded the Ashes astatine the earliest imaginable accidental - going down with a whimper.

After the archetypal 2 one-day internationals, erstwhile England were bowled retired for 204 and past failed to pursuit 181 to get themselves level, skipper Heather Knight repeatedly said England were "so close" to Australia, and that they were "not acold away" from catching up.

The connection was akin aft a 57-run decision successful Monday's archetypal T20, erstwhile Knight said "we felt similar we were successful the game" and "we tin lucifer them".

But, with Australia 8-0 up and showing nary signs of taking their ft disconnected the gas, England request to halt kidding themselves - and us.

Frankly, they are obscurity near.

England tin proceed to accidental they are closing the gap, but the results and performances bash not bespeak it.

Of course, determination is nary shame to losing to Australia. Let's get that straight.

They clasp the 50-over satellite title, earlier past twelvemonth they had won six retired of the past 7 T20 World Cups, and they pb the mode successful each azygous facet of the crippled having built enviable spot successful extent done their nonrecreational home set-up.

They are ruthless, but England are ranked 2nd successful the satellite and they should aspire to beryllium knocking them disconnected the apical spot - oregon astatine slightest moving them adjacent and giving them a fewer bloody noses.

Yet, England are the ones bloodied and bruised.

The vexation from this bid has travel from an inability to bash the basics close successful the field, repeated batting mistakes against spin, and the information that since 2023, Australia person surged up successful each facet of the crippled portion England look to person stood still.

The second ODI volition spell down arsenic the defining lucifer of this bid because, essentially, Australia got distant with one.

Instead of England gaining momentum and levelling the series, it simply gave Australia a reminder of their ain fallibility and since past they person not fixed an inch.

They responded by posting 308 successful the adjacent ODI - when, successful fairness, England did small incorrect successful the tract - and past 198 astatine the archetypal clip of asking successful the archetypal T20 present successful Sydney.

Beth Mooney smacked a match-winning 75 from 51 balls having been dropped connected 16 and 23, aft debutant Georgia Voll was enactment down connected 13 connected her mode to an assertive 11-ball 21.

If we are looking astatine the gulf betwixt the sides, the biggest country wherever England request to amended is successful the tract - and that is wherever Australia excel.

During Australia's innings, England fto the shot gaffe done their hands and legs. There were singles stolen from overthrows. They failed to scope balls connected the boundary, wherever successful comparison, Australia's fielders were reaching them with ease.

The hosts, whether marshalled by Alyssa Healy oregon stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath, complaint astir the tract betwixt the overs. They don't springiness the absorption clip to breathe, fto unsocial think. They smother you.

Such is their ultimate athleticism and aura, the assemblage is stunned into soundlessness erstwhile a uncommon gaffe happens.

And adjacent erstwhile they are up against it - arsenic erstwhile Sophia Dunkley smashed a 24-ball 50 successful England's pursuit - their assemblage connection does not change.

Mooney herself summed it up perfectly successful her post-match interview.

"It's an cognition thing," she said. "We propulsion our bodies astir and marque a conscious effort to spell for everything.

"We privation to support pushing the boundaries of what we tin achieve."

In contrast, England are not addressing their problems with the aforesaid level of discipline.

In 2023, they mislaid 39 wickets to Australia's spinners astatine an mean of 22.5, and towards the extremity of that summertime they amazingly mislaid a T20 bid against Sri Lanka erstwhile rotation dominated erstwhile more.

Head manager Jon Lewis acknowledged it arsenic a weakness, and said helium would beryllium taking his players to rotation camps to code the problems. Yet truthful acold successful this bid they person already mislaid 22 wickets to spin, averaging conscionable 11.63 astatine a strike-rate of 71.

While the squad is struggling connected the pitch, they are not winning galore friends disconnected it.

After they crashed retired of the T20 World Cup nether a torrent of dropped catches and stooped shoulders, erstwhile England bowler Alex Hartley was 1 of a fistful of pundits who questioned the team's fittingness and suggested this was an country of improvement.

Since Hartley's comments, immoderate members of the England squad person not engaged with her portion connected media duties for BBC Test Match Special and Channel 7 successful Australia.

It came to a caput successful the pre-match physique up successful Sydney erstwhile spinner Sophie Ecclestone - a erstwhile team-mate of Hartley for England and Lancashire - refused to bash an interrogation with Hartley.

"I've been hung retired to dry," Hartley told the BBC Test Match Special podcast.

"The crushed I said England aren't arsenic acceptable arsenic Australia is due to the fact that I privation them to compete, I privation them to beryllium amended and I privation them to win. But I've been fixed the acold enarthrosis ever since - not by everyone, but immoderate individuals and coaches.

"Clearly I person upset them. They deliberation I americium wrong, which is good - I'm entitled to my opinions and they are entitled to theirs."

What England indispensable judge is that until they adjacent the spread connected Australia, questions volition proceed to beryllium asked of each aspects of their game.

For Australia, the juggernaut thunders on.