Australia vs England: Who will star in Women’s Ashes series 2022

Knight and Lanning will meet on Thursday 20 January for the first IT20 match
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With just two days to go before England’s women take on Meg Lanning and her squad, Heather Knight will be ensuring her team are undergoing all final preparations as England make a bid to regain the Ashes for the first time since 2014.

Lanning has captained Australia since 2015 and under her reign, Australia have won all three of the subsequent Ashes series.

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Following on from a disastrous Men’s tour of Australia, England’s women will be hopeful that they can bring back some passion into the game and restore some of the pride that has been damaged and broken from Joe Root’s bid for the Urn.

Both teams have named a 17-player strong squad and while Lanning will be looking to make a fourth consecutive win, Knight will hope she can finally have an Ashes success story.

The first match is part of the Twenty20 International series and takes place on Thursday 20 December 2022.

Here are the squads and players to watch out for as the series commences

Who will be England’s star player?

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There is unlikely to be just one stand out player as England take on their fiercest and most historic rivals but Heather Knight has always been a stand-out player for her squad, leading from the front and by example.

She is the most successful English batter in the Women’s Ashes and her team will no doubt rely on her skill with both bat and ball as well as her invaluable experience with the series.

Batter Tammy Beaumont will also be one to help and solidify England’s position with the bat. Not only as Beaumont been named as one of the England Cricket Board’s Players of the Year but she was also nominated for the ICC Women’s IT20 Player of the Year; the ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year as well as the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

Tammy Beaumont will be a key player for England in their Ashes campaignTammy Beaumont will be a key player for England in their Ashes campaign
Tammy Beaumont will be a key player for England in their Ashes campaign

She has had a stand out year in 2021 hitting 503 runs in just 11 matches in ODI. She made 66 in the England Women’s Test against India Women and has also scored 303 runs in nine IT20 matches at an average of 33.66.

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The bowling line-up will most likely see England spinner Sophie Ecclestone as the pick of the bowlers.

Eccelstone, who played for the Manchester Originals in The Hundred tournament, picked up seven wickets during the Women’s intrasquad game on Monday 17 January.

The 22-year-old has 53 ODI wickets in just 35 matches as well as 67 IT20 wickets from 48 matches.

Who are the players to watch out for?

Charlie Dean is one of the newest players to come into the squad and currently lacks a central contract with the ECB.

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She made her international debut during England’s ODI series against New Zealand in the summer and picked up five wickets for just 19 runs.

The 21-year-old off-spinner will look to solidify her place within the England camp and hope that this series will give her a highly-sought after ECB central contract.

Sophia Dunkley had a tremendous summer in The Hundred for the Southern Brave and ended up as the tournament’s third-highest scorer.

Dunkley impressed in The Hundred and will hopefully show off her skill down underDunkley impressed in The Hundred and will hopefully show off her skill down under
Dunkley impressed in The Hundred and will hopefully show off her skill down under

At just 23-years-old, Dunkley has been floating in and out of the England squad for a while but there will be no doubt that the confidence gained from such a strong summer will help propel her into this series.

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With Beaumont and Knight, there will be no doubt that Dunkley will be another batter on whom England will be able to rely.

Who is new in the Australian squad?

Australia took a surprising gamble in their squad as they selected leg spinner Alana King instead of Amanda-Jane Wellington who seemed much more likely to make it into the squad.

King is yet to have any experience in the longer format of Test match cricket but will no doubt adapt as quickly as she has picked up and improved upon her talent in order to reassure Lanning and the Australians that she deserves a place in this side.

Australian selector Shawn Flegler said: “Alana King…(has) a great opportunity to show what she can do at this level. Having improved in all facets of the game over the last few seasons, she’s well placed to play an important role in the series.”

Who will stand out for Australia?

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Ellyse Perry is already the top run scorer and top wicket-taker in the multi-format form of the series.

The 31-year-old has 1425 runs to her name, at an average of 59.38 as well as 55 wickets with her best figures sitting at 7/22.

Perry is the most successful cricket in the Women’s Ashes in the multi-format set up of the seriesPerry is the most successful cricket in the Women’s Ashes in the multi-format set up of the series
Perry is the most successful cricket in the Women’s Ashes in the multi-format set up of the series

Once again, she is likely to dominate the Australian line-up and cause real problems for England if they are not able to control her game.

The dangerous pairing of Perry and Australian captain Lanning will damage the England bowling attack if the likes of England’s Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole and Sophie Ecclestone are not able to reign them in.

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England squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Scive, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck

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