England is looking ahead after two defeats to start the Ashes
No dwelling on tough loss as England seek change in Hobart
Nat Sciver-Brunt has conceded Tuesday’s narrow ODI defeat was difficult to digest, but says England cannot afford to dwell on their disappointment ahead of Friday’s crucial third one-dayer in Hobart.
England trial 0-4 after Australia won the opening two games – including a remarkable effort to defend 180 in the second of those matches.
If Australia sweep the ODI leg with victory at Bellerive Oval, England would be left needing to win all three T20Is and the Test in order to reclaim the trophy they last won in 2014.
Sorely needing an injection of momentum, Sciver-Brunt said England would need to make some changes to their approach.
"Trying to shift up the momentum in our way, we have to make some changes and look forward, we can't dwell too much on what's already happened," she said.
"It's not a massive thing, really, and the skills required for it are already within us.
"It's just a little bit of a mindset shift in terms of sticking to our strengths and being willing to use those in any moment - when the pressure's on, when we feel like we might have to rebuild, or when we feel like we're in a really good place with the bat.
"Being a bit more proactive and playing to our strengths a little bit more, not necessarily being reckless, but being smart with that, and using our strengths to take pressure off ourselves.
"It's important for us to get on the board, but I think it's important for us more so to play the play the way that we want to play.
"That's something that we've spoken about in the last couple days, to put those things right, and just be happy with our performances a little bit more."
England will at least be buoyed by the knowledge they recovered from a 0-6 deficit during the 2023 Ashes to ultimately draw the series 8-8, but would be desperate to go into the T20I leg with two points on the board.
That switch to the shortest format will see Australia play a T20I for the first time since they were bundled out of the T20 World Cup semi-finals in October.
England failed to get out of the group stage at that tournament, but impressed in their return to the format against South Africa in late November when they claimed a 3-0 T20I series win over the World Cup runners-up.
Australia assistant coach Dan Marsh agreed the disappointment of falling 21 runs short of chasing 180 would have left England with some scars, but said he expected them to come out firing in Hobart.
He said Australia would also need to lift their game, after two less-than-convincing performances with the bat in Sydney and Melbourne.
"You've got to treat every game as a new game," Marsh said on Thursday.
"We're four nil-up, but we're heading to the next fixture looking to one, with the bat put a decent score on the board if we bat first, or with the ball, just put pressure on from the get go.
"Over the first two games the competition has been very close, and we've come out on top of both of those games, so we're certainly expecting England to bring their best, and for us, we've got to do the same."
KFC BBL|14 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SIX
|
9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.156 | 0 | 13 |
|
2
HUR
|
8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.12 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
THU
|
9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.34 | 0 | 11 |
|
4
STA
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.073 | 0 | 8 |
|
5
HEA
|
8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | -0.863 | 0 | 7 |
|
6
STR
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.067 | 0 | 6 |
|
7
SCO
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.057 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
REN
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.033 | 0 | 6 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points