England women’s coach Jon Lewis has claimed that “cultural differences” are responsible for Australia’s superior athleticism after his team’s fitness levels were thrust into the spotlight during an unsuccessful Ashes campaign.
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Australia has taken 12-0 lead in the multi-format series after winning six straight matches against their Ashes rivals, who have copped criticism for their sloppy fielding and inconsistent batting.
Aside from Thursday evening’s rain-affected T20 at Canberra’s Manuka Oval, England has been utterly outclassed in each of the white-ball contests, while the tourists are at risk of becoming the first team to suffer a women’s Ashes whitewash since the multi-format system was introduced in 2013.
However, speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s third T20 in Adelaide, Lewis declared the series scoreline was not a fair reflection of the gulf between the two teams.
“In every game, there’s been moments where we feel that we’ve been in the game and had a good opportunity to try and push home a strong advantage. We haven’t quite got those moments in the game right, and the opposition have,” Lewis said.
“Whilst the margins of victory in the game have been at times large, I think the difference isn’t as big as the margin suggests in terms of results, in terms of the performance.”
Last week, BBC commentator Alex Hartley claimed that spinner Sophie Ecclestone refused a TV interview in retaliation to comments during the recent T20 World Cup campaign where she criticised the fitness of England’s players.
Although he conceded Ecclestone should have conducted the interview, Lewis jumped to his team’s defence when quizzed about their fitness levels.
“I cannot defend them more around how hard they work on their physicality,” Lewis said.
“They are incredibly dedicated to what they do. I’ve never seen a cricket team work like this cricket team, and I’ve worked in professional cricket for 31 years.”
Lewis also confessed Australia was “a much more athletic team” than England, suggesting the nation’s outdoor lifestyle produces more natural athletes.
“They’re more agile, they look faster, at times they look more powerful,” he continued.
“Is that the reason that we’re not winning cricket matches here in this country? No.
“We definitely need to get faster and we can access more power, for sure. If you’re talking about whether or not we can run marathons, we don’t need to. We need to be fit for purpose.
“I walked from Bondi to Coogee the other Sunday morning, and pretty much every Australian in the eastern suburbs was in the water.
“There’s about a million kids down there, and they were doing Surf Life Saving, or playing touch rugby.
“For me, that’s a cultural difference. I definitely think Australia have an advantage in terms of athleticism.”
Since taking on the captaincy in 2016, captain Knight has led England to five unsuccessful Ashes campaigns, with pressure mounting on the 34-year-old to keep the leadership position.
“Like any selection, we make those decisions after the tour,” Lewis responded when asked about Knight’s future as national captain.
“We will spend some time reflecting and make some rational decisions, and think about what the right thing is for the team further down the road. I don’t think now is the right time to consider that, to be honest.”
The pink-ball Test between Australia and England gets underway at the MCG on Thursday, with the first ball scheduled for 2.30pm AEDT.
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