England look fighting fit as they aim to end 17 years of hurt

It was after the first T20 in the 2024-25 Ashes series against Australia that everything came to a head. After winning the toss, England elected to field, only to watch Australia put up 198 runs. Then both openers were out for ducks as England were bowled out in 16 overs for 141.

Having already lost the entire ODI series, the result meant that Australia retained the trophy at the earliest possible point. England would go on to be whitewashed 16-0 in the series. Following the match, Alex Hartley, a BBC commentator and 2017 World Cup winner with England, revealed that Sophie Ecclestone had refused to do an interview with her. “I’ve been hung out to dry by the England team,” she said on the BBC’s Test Match Special podcast. “None of them want to speak to me.”

The “cold shoulder” Hartley was supposedly being given was the result of remarks she made after their exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. She pinned their exit from the group stage, following a loss to West Indies, on a lack of fitness among certain members of the team. They had put down six chances in the field during that match, where West Indies chased down the 142 set for them with two overs to spare.

All of this has been litigated significantly over the past year and a half and more. Heather Knight would step down as captain following the series and there was the long-overdue departure of coach Jon Lewis. Sophie Ecclestone ended up taking some time away from domestic cricket saying that she felt “there were a lot of words being thrown around that weren’t true”. “Some of the things people were saying about the team I didn’t really agree with.”

We will probably never know how true what Hartley said was - Lewis and Knight both denied the early exit had anything to do with fitness - but the quality of performance put in by England at this World Cup has only placed their previous efforts in sharper relief. The catch Ecclestone took from Laura Wolvaardt towards the end of the power play in the semi-final against South Africa was the antithesis of how England have approached fielding in recent years. Dani Gibson has spent the past few weeks haring around the boundary to prevent fours. They are quite obviously far sharper than they were at previous tournaments.

That sharpness has been consistent, whether it was in their easier group matches against teams like Sri Lanka or Scotland where they set strong totals that already looked hard to chase, or when they were under pressure, as against South Africa. Eyebrows were raised about the minimal preparation in terms of match play England had done in the lead-up to this tournament, but the opportunity to spend longer periods of time in camp appears to have paid dividends, with former Sussex wicketkeeper Nick Wilton now in charge of the fielding coaching. Current head coach Charlotte Edwards also brought in more stringent fitness testing and England’s running between the wickets has looked notably sharper during this tournament.

All of this has got England to the point of a final against Australia at Lord’s with only the slightest of wobbles when they lost three wickets in the power play of the semi-final against South Africa. No one will be counting their chickens when it comes to Australia, however. The Aussies spent the week looking incredibly relaxed, with Phoebe Litchfield’s decision to lead a chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” on a visit to Wimbledon taking more effort than their match against West Indies at the Oval on Tuesday afternoon.

While it has been notable that England’s evolution has not involved players moving on, Australia saw their captain since November 2023 retire in March. Alyssa Healy, who was also their wicketkeeper, had played 162 T20 internationals. In her place, Beth Mooney has taken over the gloves and Sophie Molineux the captaincy. The quality of Australia is such that it has looked seamless, aside from an injury scare for Mooney earlier in the tournament.

These two nations have met in T20 World Cup finals three times before, and Australia have won all three. However, the last time they played each other at Lord’s was during the Women’s Ashes in 2023, where rain helped England win. There was a slight concern on Friday night that the match might have to compete with England men’s football World Cup game against Mexico for attention, but that fear proved short-lived. England won the inaugural Women’s T20 World Cup at Lord’s in 2009. The question is: can they end their own 17 years of hurt?

Photograph by Philip Brown/Getty Images