Women's Ashes points system under review

England pacer Kate Cross suggests reviewing the points system for the Women’s Ashes.
Cross also credited the ECB for the growing domestic structure in women’s cricket.
England’s upcoming schedule includes three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka.

Kate Cross, the England pacer, suggests that reviewing the points system for the Women’s Ashes is necessary.

This comes after Australia retained the trophy despite winning fewer matches than the hosts in the recently-concluded series.

The multi-format women’s Ashes concluded in an 8-8 draw, wherein Australia held onto the trophy as they were the previous holders.

The one-off Test match victory granted Australia four points, while England secured four wins out of six white-ball games, each worth two points.

According to the right-arm fast-bowler, England’s comeback to secure 2-1 victories in both white-ball series indicates that the team is on the brink of achieving more favorable outcomes in the future.

“The bigger picture for us is thinking about what we have achieved this summer. Not many people come away with trophies against Australia. We feel we are on the cusp of something as a team,” she said.

“I think having some young guns helped us beat them in close games. Alice Capsey does not care that it is Ellyse Perry who is running in at her, she just wants to whack the ball for four. The youngsters have been a breath of fresh air and helped us.

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That’s what is most exciting. Credit to the ECB as the domestic structure is growing,” she added.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently disclosed that a total of 110,000 fans attended the multi-format Women’s Ashes series.

Additionally, the matches attracted a significant viewership of 5.3 million, who watched the games live on television.

Kate believes that the thrilling nature of the series played a crucial role in drawing such large numbers of spectators to the stadiums and viewers to their television screens.

“There is a lot of pride for us. Not necessarily the on-field stuff but the off-field stuff of the crowds and getting people interested in women’s cricket. We have achieved something. It doesn’t feel that way because we haven’t got the big trophy to prove it but there is a lot of excitement as to where we can go,” the pacer said.

“The overriding feeling that has come out of the series is how much fun we had. Our mantra was to entertain and inspire people and it feels like it was a series that grabbed the nation. Credit to both teams for being able to create such thrilling games.

If we had gone 8-0 down you could have lost people but we kept it alive and people wanting to support us,” she added.

In late August and September, England’s upcoming schedule includes three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka, marking their return to action.

“The crowds made such a difference, it was nothing like I had experienced in international cricket in England before. Hopefully, it can continue,” concluded Kate.