Aussies out to 'throw the first punch' in blockbuster Ashes

Alyssa Healy says it will be crucial for Australia to "throw the first punch" when their Ashes campaign gets underway in Sydney on Sunday, with momentum to be critical in the fast-paced multi-format series.

Australia are desperate to not only keep their 10-year grip on the Ashes, but to win the points-based series outright on home soil – and ensuring England don't get on top early with a win in the first ODI at North Sydney Oval is priority No.1.

"You want to throw the first punch, you want to get out there and take the first two points," Healy told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

"Then you can hopefully settle in from there."

The Aussies are still smarting from the 2023 edition in the United Kingdom, when England bounced back from a 6-0 deficit and rode a wave of emotion and local support to eventually tie the series 8-8.

This edition will see three ODIs and three T20Is played in the space of 14 days before the day-night Test begins at the MCG on January 30.

"It's just maintaining our composure under pressure," Healy continued.

"I think we speak a lot about that, and teams wanting to come really hard at us and try to knock us off a perch.

"England are a big emotional team in that regard and if you let them get in front, then they're really good at staying out in front.

"So for us in particular, we're hopefully coming in tomorrow, throwing the first punch and saying, 'Good luck catching us'.

"But if we can just manage our emotions and manage our bodies in particular, I think we'll go a long way to winning this."

England captain Heather Knight agreed the busy schedule, which sees every game played at a fresh venue, would make it difficult to wrest back momentum, but said her team's 2023 experience gave them confidence they could recover from a slow start.

She said while the 2023 series ranked as the greatest she had ever played in, it remained "tainted with regret and frustration" at not being able to finally take back the Ashes trophy Australia have held since 2015.

"They'll certainly go in as favourites," Knight said. "Our job, as it was in that '23 Ashes series, is to try and disrupt and do things a little bit differently to try and break that success and run that they've had.

"We're really confident with where we're at … that 2023 Ashes series will give us a lot of confidence.

"We know that the Aussies were probably a bit scarred by that, and they're going to come out really hard. and we've got to be prepared for that and have our plans ready to face that and to try and counteract that ourselves."

Healy said she was feeling far fewer nerves heading into her second Ashes in charge of Australia, having settled into the role full-time following the retirement of Meg Lanning.

In 2023, she was handed the reins shortly before the squad departed for the UK, when Lanning was ruled out of the tour for medical reasons.

The 34-year-old missed a chance to lift the T20 World Cup as captain late last year – and now has her sights on winning both the Ashes and the ODI World Cup, due to be staged in India later this year.

"It wouldn't bother me if I was captain or not, I'd just like to win both of those things," she said.

"It's a big 12 months for our group.

"Knowing the finish to (the Ashes) last time over in England, I think that left the girls a little bit wanting more and wanting to improve and evolve.

"We've seen that with our cricket over the last 12 to 18 months, and probably the World Cup was another opportunity for us to reflect on how we can be better.

"This is a great opportunity for us to showcase that against one of the best teams in the world, and on our home turf as well."

Commbank Women's Ashes 2025

First ODI: January 12: North Sydney Oval, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Second ODI: January 14: CitiPower Centre, Melbourne, 10.05am AEDT

Third ODI: January 17: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 10.05am AEDT

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.40pm AEDT

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.40pm AEDT

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 7.10pm ACDT (7.40pm AEDT)

Australia squad (ODI/T20Is): Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris+, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England squad (ODI/T20Is): Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross*, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson+, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath+, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp+, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith+, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

* ODIs only; + T20Is only

Day-night Test: January 30 - February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: TBC

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

The rivalry resumes with a blockbuster series in Australia from Jan 12 - Feb 2. Learn about the remarkable 90-year history at the Women's Ashes Hub