Alice Capsey warned Australia that England are yet to play their best cricket despite levelling the Women’s Ashes by winning the opening ODI at Bristol.
England secured a nerve-shredding two-wicket win to wipe out the 6-0 deficit suffered after losing the series’ solitary Test and the opening T20 clash.
Australia need to win only one of the two remaining ODIs at Southampton and Taunton to retain the Ashes but they have now lost three consecutive games for the first time since 2017.
“We were 6-0 down but we took a lot of confidence from the Test match because we saw how close we were to winning that,” said number three batter Capsey, 18, who struck 40 from 34 balls in England’s victorious reply of 267 for eight.
“We had another narrow loss in the opening T20 at Edgbaston, but we were pretty confident that once we got that first win we would go on a streak.
“The whole series we haven’t been at our best. In the T20s we were playing at 80 per cent and we weren’t at our best again here.
“But to get over the line in pressure moments when previously we would have crumbled a little bit is great. We were so calm out there, which is something we have focused on.
“It’s really exciting we haven’t played our best cricket and it’s six-all.”
The power hitting of Capsey and Tammy Beaumont was in danger of going to waste after England had reached 103 for one in the 12th over, chasing 264 to win.
Wickets fell at regular intervals and it was left to skipper Heather Knight and Kate Cross, coming in at 10, to get England over the line.
Cross joined Knight in the 44th over, with their partnership of 32 proving pivotal as England triumphed with 11 balls to spare.
Knight made 75 from 86 balls while Cross’ cameo of 19 from 20 deliveries included an audacious ramp shot over the head of Australia’s wicketkeeping captain Alyssa Healey.
Capsey said: “Crossy batted brilliantly – she can bat at three! She came in and played to her strengths.
“We saw her bravery whether it was the ramp or hitting Jonno (Jess Jonassen) down the ground. It was unbelievable to watch.
“She loves the ramp and probably plays it the best out of the whole group. If you don’t see a Kate Cross ramp you might be asking her: ‘Are you OK?'”
Looking ahead to the Ashes’ climax, Capsey added: “We’ve shown a lot of fight in this series that previously we might not have.
“Australia are the most successful cricket team and we knew it was going to be a real challenge.
“We were the underdogs coming into the series but we have put the pressure on the Aussies. They are still a quality side and we go again at the Ageas (in Southampton).”
Australia benefited from the hosts spilling four catches while wicketkeeper Amy Jones missed out on a stumping from a legside wide.
“It would have been really nice to snatch that one at the end when they were under the pump and eight down,” said Australia batter Beth Mooney, who top scored for the tourists with an unbeaten 81.
“We certainly haven’t put out best foot forward at this point and we know we’ve got to give a lot more when it comes to executing our skills.
“I don’t think we’re that far off. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on the opportunities to put pressure on England.
“We’ve let ourselves down in the last couple of games, but there’s no complacency.”
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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