The 2025 Women’s Ashes was set to be a hugely competitive series, with the two sides drawing the previous series in England in 2023. However, the series was a whitewash, England lost 16-0 and the gap between England and Australia seems bigger than ever.
After 18 months of problems that were continually swept under the carpet, notably a group-stage Word Cup exit against the West Indies, there is now no choice but to address these issues and begin the rebuild.
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England’s Ashes tour was quite dreadful, they were outplayed in every facet, and from a viewer’s perspective, England needs change. The team is not lacking in talent, however, several fundamental issues have caused the team to hit rock bottom.
The whitewash was a shock, the gap between the two sides is bigger than was thought. Australia, like England, did not make it to the final of the T20 World Cup last year for the first time since 2009. Australia reflected on their World Cup exit and corrected their mistakes; England did not.
Australia is the best women’s sports team on the planet, not just cricket. The huge scoreline just shows that the gap has widened, not shrunk. So, what has happened since 2017 for England to not close that gap?
England’s domestic system has been quite simply, chaos. A 35-team county competition of varying standards ended in 2019 and was then replaced by eight regional teams, such as Southern Vipers and Western Storm.
However, these have now been disbanded and from the 2025 summer, it will be eight tier-one county sides, including Essex and Surrey. When comparing this to the domestic setup in Australia, they have a well-resourced and well-established domestic league structure, for example, New South Wales Breakers have been playing as a side since the 1930s.
Separating the women’s domestic setup in England to the men’s was not successful. The county model works, and bringing the men’s and women’s sides together enables both sides to collaborate and improve.
From the 2025 summer onwards, the women’s county sides will be establishing themselves alongside the men’s, and positing the women’s side with an already established fanbase. The women’s regional system was never able to establish itself – unlike the women’s domestic system in Australia which works in conjunction alongside the men’s.
England women’s cricket team needs to play red-ball cricket, not only because of test match cricket but also because it would significantly improve their skills in longer format matches. Australia has a domestic red-ball structure for women, this potentially gives them an edge in Ashes contests.
There are clear discrepancies between the domestic setups of England and Australia women’s cricket, however, the changes that have been put in place ahead of the 2025 season will align the England domestic setup to be more like Australia’s but will take several years before we see its impact.
In 2023, Cricket Australia announced a five-year pay deal that boosted female salaries. There has also been a $314 million commitment to ‘female-friendly’ infrastructure. International Australian players can earn up to $500,000 when combined with domestic contracts.
In England on the other hand, international contracts for centrally contracted players by the ECB are said to be worth between $112,000 to $162,000 annually, with the potential of an additional $81,000 for the top contracts in The Hundred. Despite possible small discrepancies in pay, the money is there for both teams and therefore, not the issue.
In February 2023, England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt signed a contract with the Mumbai Indians for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) for $400,821. This shows the huge steps forward that women’s franchise tournaments have made in terms of salaries.
Nat Sciver-Brunt is one of the best players in the world and is one of many among the England set-up who play in franchise tournaments around the world, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophie Ecclestone, and Alice Capsey to name a few.
The Hundred, despite its differing opinions, has been an enormous success for women’s cricket in England. Joining the men’s and women’s sides has enabled an established fanbase for each team.
Playing the women’s and men’s matches on the same day with a ‘double-header’ has brought in record viewership and attendance for the women’s game in England. For the women, the tournament only lasts three weeks a year, therefore the fast-paced format cannot be blamed for the downfall of the national side.
The poor domestic structure can be to blame, however. The lack of competition for places in the England women’s side is clear. For Australia though, it is the complete opposite. When Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy drops out, there are many players in line to take her place, Tahlia McGrath being one.
When Heather Knight was injured during the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, it was clear that there was no clear predecessor. Nat Sciver-Brunt is vice-captain but is lacking in experience and the defeat in that match showed how reliant the England side is on Heather Knight. A leadership programme is therefore necessary, focusing on mentoring the next generation of leaders in English cricket.
Australia, uninspiringly, has one. It is run by the former Australia captain and executive at Cricket Australia, Belinda Clark, and 27 of the 33 women who have graduated from it have gone on to hold leadership roles as captains in domestic, franchise, or international cricket.
From a broader perspective, the women’s cricket landscape needs to become more competitive. England regularly thrash countries such as Pakistan and New Zealand in bilateral series but then crumble at the first sign of pressure during World Cups and Ashes series.
There needs to be a change to how the International Cricket Council distributes the revenue among the nations. As it stands, the ‘big three’ of England, Australia, and India continue to dominate world cricket, and this is perpetuated by the distribution of revenue. Not only does the revenue need to be distributed equally, but also cricket boards should be required to spend 50% of their income on developing their women’s teams.
The Ashes will always be the biggest competitive series for an England side, however for England to improve and compete more frequently under pressure, all bilateral series need to be competitive.
There is not a simple solution to closing the gap between England and Australia – the recent Ashes showed much deeper-rooted issues that have been put to one side for over a year. It is important to focus on how the England Women’s cricket side can beat Australia and be the better opposition, not just be able to compete.
It is not yet known whether captain Knight and coach, Jon Lewis, will remain in their positions post-Ashes, however, what is certain is something needs to change. The new domestic system which debuts this summer, is just the start.
