Buoyant England eyeing an Ashes heist

England are daring to dream of pulling off an Ashes heist following their drought-breaking back-to-back victories over Australia in the T20 leg of the multi-format series.

The hosts still trail Australia 6-4 in the points-based series and need to win all three remaining ODIs – a format Australia have won their past 15 matches in.

But it is a drastically brighter outlook than the 6-0 scoreline following the first T20I in Birmingham last Saturday.

With record-breaking crowds at their back, England quick Lauren Bell said the hosts were full of confidence and ready to ride the momentum after winning back-to-back games against Australia for the first time since November 2017.

A total of 21,610 people packed into Lord’s on Saturday night to watch England clinch a five-wicket DLS victory, beating the previous record for a women’s bilateral game of 20,328 – which was set at The Oval on Wednesday when England won by three runs.

That crowd beat the previous record of 19,572, set at Edgbaston last Saturday.

"Everyone's been absolutely buzzing with the fans, with the crowds and with how much everyone's got behind us, I think it's really helped in this series," Bell told reporters at Lord’s on Saturday.

"(Winning on Wednesday) definitely boosted our confidence, I think after the first two games we felt like we had prepared well and we just needed to do a few things better and I think getting a series win against Australia is huge.

"Now we can push on to the ODIs and still take it one game at a time but yeah, I think we've got a lot of confidence in the group now."

England will continue to enjoy vocal support across the one-day international leg, with all three matches at Bristol, Southampton and Taunton already sold out.

Bell is part of a new, young crop of England players who were not part of the previous four Ashes series defeats – another is Saturday’s teenaged player of the match Alice Capsey whose 46 off 23 was decisive in their successful chase.

England won a total of one game across the past two multi-format series in 2019 and 2022, but Bell shrugged off suggestions a lack of scars from past defeats was aiding the newcomers.

It goes without saying, however, she and her teammates are enjoying this series much more than the previous two editions.

"(Ashes cricket is) not easy, but it's very fun," she said.

"I've loved it so far, it's had everything so far and we've still got three games to play.

"I think the main thing that our coach Jon Lewis (says) is to stay in the dressing room and stay focused on us.

"I think that's definitely helped us, we don't think too much about who we're playing against and how good Australia are.

"We've got full respect for how they're the best team but we try to keep a very, very internal focus on our game."

Saturday’s defeat meant Australia lost the T20 leg of the multi-format series 2-1.

It was the first time since November 2017 that they have been defeated in any series – for seven members of their 14-player squad, it was the first series defeat of their international careers.

Now coach Shelley Nitschke – also experiencing her first series defeat since joining the national side as an assistant in 2018 – needs to work out how to regain momentum in the 50-over format.

In Australia’s favour is their recent ODI record, a format in which they are on a 15-game winning streak.

"I think we've probably been off our game a little bit for the three T20s, to be fair, even the first game that we managed to win at Edgbaston," Nitschke said on Saturday.

"It's a tight turnaround now to the ODIs but we're still staying alive in the Ashes series which is what we've come here to win, so we're just got to have a look at our game and make sure when we start the ODI series, that we're correcting some of those errors that we're making and that we're really sharp.

"It's just about being really clinical and how we prepare and being really honest with ourselves as well.

"We all start again at the ODIs so I think, sure, they might have the momentum but I think that can change pretty quickly … so we're confident that hopefully we can swing the momentum back our way after the first ODI."

Nitschke conceded Australia were missing the influence of regular captain Meg Lanning – Australia’s all-time leading run-scorer – who is missing this series due to medical reasons.

However, she believes the world’s top-ranked team would call on their depth to cover their missing No.3 during the one-day leg.

"She's one of the greatest players in the world and she's been in our side for a long time, so we were definitely going to miss her, that was always going to be the case," she said.

"I think she's always made a lot of runs over here so we certainly miss her but I still think that we've got the team and got some good depth to cover her.

"But any team that's had Meg Lanning in their side would miss her when she's not there."

CommBank Ashes Tour of the UK 2023

Australia lead the multi-format series 6-4

Test: Australia won by 89 runs

First T20I: Australia won by four wickets

Second T20I: England won by three runs

Third T20I: England won by five wickets (DLS)

First ODI: July 12 at The County Ground, Bristol, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Second ODI: July 16 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, 11am (7pm AEST)

Third ODI: July 18 at The County Ground, Taunton, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

England T20 squad: Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (vc), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Issy Wong, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danielle Wyatt