Women's Ashes: England captain Heather Knight says bowlers will have to work hard for victory

The past two Tests in the Women's Ashes have finished in draws

England women's captain Heather Knight is expecting her bowlers to have their work cut out for them if they want to force a win in the standalone Test match beginning on Thursday in Canberra.

The tourists need the four points victory would bring to take a lead in the multi-format Ashes series after two of the three Twenty20 matches were rained off and Australia won the other easily to lead 4-2 on points.

"There's a line of thought that if you bowl first you can potentially dictate the game, but you still have to take those 20 wickets, which can be difficult," Knight said at Manuka Oval the day before the match, while weighing up tactical considerations and the playing surface.

"We're expecting it to be flat, and it doesn't tend to break up so it could be difficult on that fourth day to take wickets."

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But she says that her team should look to India's Test match in Australia last September for inspiration.

"Jhulan Goswami in particular was outstanding - the way she bowled, how she was disciplined with her length and found a little bit of movement to challenge the Aussie batters around that off-stump line. So we've talked about that, being really disciplined there and testing the Aussie batters' technique."

The addition of tall 21-year-old bowler Lauren Bell to the squad might be one way to force wickets. She has been promoted from the England A squad as cover following swing bowler Anya Shrubsole's ankle injury. Bell could join up with veteran attack leader Katherine Brunt to spice up the contest.

"She's definitely an option on these wickets, she gets a bit of lift," said Knight of Bell, while remaining cagey about her final XI. "We'll consider her."

The other consideration is whether England need extra spin support for left-armer Sophie Ecclestone, who shouldered a huge workload in last year's India Test.

"Sophie bowled brilliantly in that Test match, but it did take a lot out of her," said Knight. "It's something we've considered, especially with the wicket expected to be a bit flat."

Whatever the configuration, there will be plenty of work for England's bowlers to do. Australia's champion white-ball opener Beth Mooney is expected to return despite fracturing her jaw when struck in the nets less than two weeks ago.

Mooney had three metal plates inserted in her jaw, but is determined to take her place in the Test team, where she will bat in the middle order.

Captain Meg Lanning has never yet dominated in Test cricket, but that is an anomaly that must at some point come to an end given her stellar 50-over career. There will be no better time than her 150th match in charge of an Australian team across formats.

Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes have formed a dynamic opening partnership in one-day cricket and will reprise that role in the longer form.

Then there is Ellyse Perry: dismissed once in her past five Test innings, including two centuries against England, at an incomprehensible average of 474. Perry was left out of Australia's T20 team to start the series, but remains the most vital player in the longer formats.

The Australians have made a similar squad move to England, adding young quick Stella Campbell to replace the injured speedster Tayla Vlaeminck. Regularly the fastest bowler in Australian women's cricket, Vlaeminck has sustained another stress fracture in her foot after the same injury knocked her out of cricket for nearly a year in 2020.

Getting a result in women's Test matches is a hot topic at present, given the matches are scheduled over four days rather than five. India's two recent matches against Australia and England were well set up on the fourth day but could not be played to a conclusion because of time lost to rain.

Pace and bounce from bowlers is an important part of moving the game on, but equally important is pace and bounce from pitches, given that women's Tests have often been allocated used surfaces.

The pitch will be fresh in Canberra, but whether it can offer enough life or deteriorate sufficiently to push the game along remains to be seen.

Then there is the question of rain, which spoiled two of the three opening T20 matches in Adelaide, and is forecast in Canberra for the third and fourth days of the Test. One can only hope that by the day after the Test, audiences are not left wishing once again that there had been a fifth day allocated to the contest.

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