England lose to England A amid 'comical' preparation

England coach Lisa Keightley has put her team's shock Ashes warm-up results down to overzealousness after a preparation that skipper Heather Knight has labelled "average" and "comical".

England's senior side lost back-to-back T20 matches to the secondary England A team at Canberra's Philip Oval over the weekend – although left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone sounded a warning to Australia with figures of 7-14 – continuing a disjointed Ashes lead-in that has been hampered by wet weather.

Like the hosts, England have been scrambling to reassess their plans after the schedule for the multi-format series was changed just three weeks out from the first game.

The seven-game series was brought forward by a week, with the T20I leg moved ahead of the one-off Test, to accommodate the need to travel to New Zealand just days after the Ashes to meet updated isolation requirements ahead of the upcoming World Cup

Combined with the incredibly strict restrictions that have been placed on both teams – far stricter than those experienced by their male counterparts as anyone who test positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of that World Cup departure will miss the tournament – makes this series unlike any other.

"I wouldn't say we've started that well, to be totally honest," Keightley, who played 92 matches for Australia, told media on Monday.

"We're trying to get up to speed as best we can.

"We've had a bit of rain around in Canberra and the practice wickets haven't been that great, to be honest, as a batter to feel confident.

"(The batters were) trying to go too early, they wanted to click, they want to get off and going really well.

"There's no doubt that girls know the pressure of an Ashes series, and in the practice matches that showed. They want to start well and they're probably putting a bit of pressure on themselves at the moment.

"But you expect that as an international cricketer … I think by the time we get there, I'm confident we'll be in a really good place."

The England and England A squads – 29 players in total – arrived in Adelaide from Canberra via a charter flight on Monday afternoon, with five Australians – the Sydney-based group of Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell and assistant Ben Sawyer – in tow.

England, who spent time in camp in Oman prior to Christmas to gain valuable time training outdoors, have two more hit outs at Adelaide Oval ahead of Thursday's opening T20I.

"We've got a really big couple of trainings coming up over the next two days that we've got to get right, we've got to get the players hitting the ball well, and bowling in good areas and sharpening up," Keightley said.

Captain Heather Knight on Friday described England's lead-up as 'comical', referring to the two-week period prior to their departure for Australia where they remained in near-total isolation to avoid the virus and called on members of their households to feed bowling machines and perform throwdowns in order to train.

"It's not been ideal, that's for sure," Knight said late last week.

"I think the lead up for a number of reasons has been pretty average to be honest.

"But it's been completely unavoidable … just to get everyone on the plane out has been tough.

"Getting our heads around that and trying to find ways to get ourselves ready, physically and mentally, has been a little bit harder.

"And then throw COVID in there and shifting goalposts from the World Cup as well, and as you can imagine, it's been quite hard to focus on the cricket at the moment.

"But what we've got to do is try and make the most of it … we've just got to get ourselves mentally ready as we can and just find a way to bring the team together.

"But I'm confident that we'll make the most of what's been a bad situation ... and maybe it will take the pressure off. We've got to find a way to free up, go out there and almost just throw caution to the wind a little bit and see what we can do."

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes v England

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

England Ashes 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 Sciver (vc), Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt

Jan 20: First T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 22: Second T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 23: Third T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 27-30: Test match, Manuka Oval

Feb 3: First ODI, Manuka Oval

Feb 6: Second ODI, Junction Oval

Feb 8: Third ODI, Junction Oval

Australia A v England A

Australia A squad: Georgia Redmayne (c), Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Katie Mack, Courtney Sippel, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Georgia Voll, Courtney Webb, Amanda-Jade Wellington

England A squad: Emily Arlott, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Alice Davidson-Richards, Georgia Elwiss, Kirstie Gordon, Eve Jones, Beth Langston, Emma Lamb, Bryony Smith, Ellie Threlkeld, Issy Wong

Jan 20: First T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 21: Second T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 23: Third T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 28: First OD, Philip Oval, Canberra

Jan 30: Second OD, Philip Oval, Canberra

Feb 2: Third OD, Philip Oval, Canberra