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After crashing retired of the Women's T20 World Cup successful disappointing benignant successful October, Heather Knight's England responded with a palmy circuit of South Africa to guarantee they caput to January's Ashes bid successful Australia connected a high.
The archetypal of 3 Ashes ODIs takes spot connected 11 January (23:30 GMT), followed by 3 T20s and culminating successful a four-day Test astatine the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
England thrashed an experimental Proteas broadside 3-0 successful the T20s, won the one-day bid 2-1 and were victorious successful a Test for the archetypal clip since 2014 with a 286-run win.
However, England volition cognize Australia contiguous a overmuch tougher situation arsenic ODI satellite champions and six-time T20 winners - contempt losing their crown to New Zealand this year.
Australia clasp the Ashes aft the epic drawn bid successful 2023, truthful England volition person to triumph the bid outright to assertion them backmost - thing they person not done successful 10 years.
So what precisely person they learned from South Africa successful bid to bash that? And what are the questions they face?
An in-form Nat Sciver-Brunt volition beryllium England's astir important limb if they are to bushed Australia.
The all-rounder capped different sparkling twelvemonth by scoring the fastest Test period successful women's Tests against South Africa, from conscionable 96 balls.
She fulfils a versatile relation successful England's apical order, capable to onslaught from shot 1 if fixed a beardown level but besides regularly digging the broadside retired of tricky positions.
But are England excessively reliant connected her brilliance?
In ODIs, England triumph 80% of their games erstwhile Sciver-Brunt scores astatine slightest fifty, which drops to 63.4% erstwhile she does not. For the aforesaid metric successful T20s, they triumph 81.2% erstwhile she raises her bat astatine 50, which drops to 73.4% erstwhile she does not.
While her signifier volition undoubtedly beryllium a immense spot of England's and she volition beryllium Australia's prized wicket, she cannot rescue them each time.
There were pleasing returns from Maia Bouchier and Knight successful the Test against South Africa, but the question surrounding whether Alice Capsey oregon Sophia Dunkley should bat successful the T20 side's apical 3 remains unsolved.
Amy Jones is the lone batter to mean much than Sciver-Brunt successful ODIs since the extremity of the past Ashes, but she has a mediocre grounds against Australia, averaging 12.41 successful T20s and 10.53 successful the 50-over format, truthful volition request to beryllium that she tin measurement up against the world's best.
In the bowling department, Lauren Filer is the astir breathtaking plus England possess.
Against South Africa, she did not instrumentality a peculiarly precocious measurement of wickets (eight crossed each 3 formats) but Filer is impervious that accelerated bowling is not defined by numbers alone.
She regularly rattled the batters with her fiery abbreviated ball, making them duck and sway oregon backmost distant from their stumps erstwhile it was fired successful fuller.
The predicament England person is whether they tin acceptable Filer and Lauren Bell successful the aforesaid white-ball side. While Bell took 8 wickets successful her subordinate of the lucifer show successful the Test, some tin beryllium inconsistent successful the shorter format which leads to a deficiency of control.
They person not often played together, lone successful 2 ODIs wherever they took 3 wickets betwixt them with an system of 5.7 for Filer and 6.4 for Bell.
But successful the 3 T20s they person played, they were much effectual with 9 wickets betwixt them with Filer averaging 36 and Bell an awesome 10.6.
Kate Cross has had a stellar twelvemonth successful ODIs, with 19 wickets astatine an mean of 18 and champion figures of 6-30, and is apt to slot consecutive backmost successful if she recovers from the backmost spasms which chopped abbreviated her South Africa tour.
"The Bell oregon Filer question could travel down to the conditions. If it's a greenish seamer past they mightiness person to driblet a spinner truthful they tin play them some and Cross," erstwhile England batter Lydia Greenway told the BBC Test Match Special podcast.
"You could spot successful the archetypal ODI [v South Africa] erstwhile they played some Bell and Filer, they did look vulnerable.
"If 1 of them has a atrocious day, I don't deliberation you tin trust excessively overmuch connected the different one, surely not arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin with Kate Cross truthful they ever person to play her.
"For maine now, arsenic agelong arsenic she's fit, they person to spell with Filer due to the fact that she tin beryllium the large constituent of difference, particularly successful determination similar Australia."
Australia suffered their ain T20 World Cup disappointment, losing to South Africa successful the semi-final having been thoroughly outplayed.
But, likewise to England, they were backmost successful enactment rapidly and responded with ominous assurance successful a 3-0 ODI triumph implicit India.
Their astonishing extent successful endowment was connected show arsenic skipper Alyssa Healy missed retired with injury, lone for 21-year-old opener Georgia Voll to onslaught 101 from 87 balls successful conscionable her 2nd planetary outing.
Almost each of their stars contributed passim with 5-19 for seamer Megan Schutt successful the archetypal ODI, 105 for Ellyse Perry successful the 2nd portion Annabel Sutherland's 110 rescued them from 78-4 successful the 3rd alongside spinner Ash Gardner's 5-30.
It is the 50-over format wherever they are astir ascendant and volition contiguous England a large situation to vie implicit a longer play of time.
They person won 15 of the 17 ODIs they person played since the past Ashes and 16 of their 20 T20s.
Beating Australia remains difficult, but beating Australia connected their ain spot is astir apt the biggest situation England could face.
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