
Ecclestone considered quitting after Ashes criticism
The issue surrounding Ecclestone, which threatened to overshadow the Ashes, arose after the first T20 in Sydney.The spinner turned down a TV interview with former England spinner Alex Hartley who was in Australia working for the BBC radio team and other television networks. Hartley questioned the fitness levels of some of England's players last year.After England's Ashes fate was confirmed, managing director of England women's cricket Clare Connor described the episode as "an unfortunate incident that won't happen again".Ecclestone first spoke about the subject to the BBC in May, when she said she had "moved on" and "learned from" the situation.But, speaking prior to England's third one-day international against India in Chester-le-Street, Ecclestone disputed the fact she "refused" to do the interview, instead suggesting she wanted to focus on her warm-up."I feel like that went down a wrong way and a few things were said," she said."I was just concentrating on cricket at that moment but a lot of things were being said which wasn't ideal for me."Ecclestone said the incident "took a lot out of me" and led to people suggesting she is arrogant."That's not me as a person," she said. "It was hard to take at that time."Ecclestone returned to the England fold for the first T20 against India in June and has taken nine wickets in seven matches, including 3-27 on Saturday in the second ODI win at Lord's."I've got a smile on my face again and I feel like I wouldn't have done it without the girls," Ecclestone said."People like [team-mates] Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, and my family and friends, I couldn't have done without them."I definitely wouldn't be here and picking up wickets at Lord's if it wasn't for them."
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Telegraph
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- Telegraph
England will lose Euro 2025 final if Sarina Wiegman does not change
This England team does not know when it is beaten, even when everyone else has given up on them. No matter how badly they play, no matter how much luck they have to ride, they find a way to win. It is remarkable fortitude, incredible strength of character and it displays the very best of this nation's indomitable spirit. They are Lionesses indeed. A pack of predators, at their most ruthless and deadly when they are wounded. The country should be proud of them and we are, but this was a victory wrapped in the worries of what will happen in the final on Sunday. Either Spain or Germany await and if they play as badly as this again, England will surely lose against that class of opposition. Flawed team with a shaky defence If Sarina Wiegman does not reflect on this performance, if she does not analyse the game and recognise the mistakes in team selection, formation and tactics that she has been making all tournament, this will almost certainly all be in vain. Amid the euphoria and joy of their incredible comeback win over a dogged and dangerous Italy, there are so many reasons to be critical. It was, once again, a largely turgid, predictable and infuriating performance until desperation took over and the chaos began. England are a team that supposedly wants control, but thrives when they dispense with game plan and play on instinct, fuelled by desperation. The point is this: England have been playing like this for two years and they have kept on doing so, even as they have scratched and clawed their way through the group stage and knockout rounds. The same problems exist, the same weaknesses are being exploited. Either Wiegman has no solutions or she is refusing to accept she needs to do anything differently. Either way, England are a flawed team, with no pace in midfield, an isolated centre-forward and a defence that plays like an arsonist handles matches. A mystery how England have reached the final England lost their first group game against France with a terrible performance. They looked, in the words of Wiegman, to have lost their quarter-final against Sweden 'four or five times' before winning on penalties in an equally scrappy and error-strewn display. And they were less than 60 seconds from losing their semi-final to Italy until Michelle Agyemang scored an equaliser that looked like it would never come during the 96 repetitive minutes of England play that had preceded it. England are into their third consecutive final at a major tournament. It is an unparalleled era of success in English football. Whatever happens it should be lauded. Wiegman has been to five tournaments with the Netherlands and England as a manager, and has taken a team to the final of every single one. She has been a brilliant appointment by the Football Association by one single, pivotal metric. Football is, and always will be, about the end result not how you play to secure it. Just ask Sweden or Italy, who have thought they had England beaten, who were ready to celebrate their success – the Italy bench had already started to do so in stoppage time in Geneva – only to end shedding the tears of the defeated. But quite how England have reached the final in Basel is a riddle. It is like a puzzle without a picture – almost impossible to work out. Yet, here we are, the reigning champions are somehow, inexplicably, 90 minutes away from retaining their crown. Wiegman's thinking did not make sense Wiegman, though, needs to do something to improve the team before they are chasing a game, relying on their guts, their fitness and their good fortune to get out of trouble. The formation looks wrong. The midfield looks unbalanced and far too easy to play through. Alessia Russo looks like the loneliest of lone strikers. The defence, despite the personnel changes and shifts in position, resembles a flimsy wooden fence blowing in the wind. It could collapse at any moment. Against Italy, England were so bad, so predictable, so slow, they made it easy for their opponents to defend their one-goal lead. Yet, Wiegman watched and waited. You might suggest she froze, the pressure of the moment too much for the brain to work, but this was not a rare occurrence. This is what she does. With Beth Mead on at half-time for the injured Lauren James, she persevered with an isolated centre-forward who was marked by three centre-backs. She kept Ella Toone on the pitch, a No 10 who was too slow to keep up with the team's attacking play. In fact, she may as well have been over the border in France so far away she was from her friend in attack. England sent cross after cross into the box and Italy's defenders cleared them with ease. There was no pressure on them, no disruption, no danger of an England forward getting on the end of anything or a midfielder pouncing on the second ball. Yet, Wiegman waited until the 85th minute to make another change. She waited until England were five minutes, plus injury time, away from defeat, to put two strikers on the pitch at the same time. Nine minutes later and Mead's run into the box distracted the goalkeeper and, finally England had someone to capitalise inside the box. Agyemang did the rest. It was impossible to work out what Wiegman's thinking was. None of it made sense, but then maybe nothing about this England team does. Maybe it does not have to, but you suspect they will find out what the consequences are if they do the same on Sunday.


BBC News
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BBC News
a minute ago
- BBC News
Euro 2025: England through to final after victory over Italy
England are through to the Euro 2025 final following a last-minute turnaround victory against Italy on the end of the match, the Lionesses were goalless to Italy, who had one goal in the first was until 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang scored at 96 minutes, moments from the final whistle, saving the team from certain Kelly followed up with a second goal with just a minute left in extra time, delivering the Lionesses to the Euro 2025 final after another nail-biting performance."We're going to make a movie some day! Well, this is a movie, my goodness, it's unbelievable," manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live. Better late than never The Lionesses clearly like to keep fans on their toes!Their quarter-final match against Sweden had many similarities to their semi-final against Italy, where victory was also snatched from the jaws of defeat very late in the Michelle Agyemang may be the youngest member of the squad but has shown just how much star power she only made her senior debut in April, but has scored the two spectacular tournament saving goals for the Lionesses in their matches against Sweden and it's easy to see why she is quickly becoming a fan favourite! Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning goal of the Euro 2022 final in extra time, delivered the second goal that secured England's victory over Italy on winning goal in the 119th minute, is the latest goal ever scored at the women's Euros according to BBC Sport."When it finishes like this I am enjoying it but it's a little bit dramatic," said manager Wiegman. Who will England be playing in the Euro 2025 final? England will face Germany or Spain in Sunday's two nations will be playing on Wednesday evening for a chance at the Euro 2025 can watch the Spain and Germany semi-final match on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 19:30 on Match of the can also watch the Euro 2025 final live from 16:00 on Sunday 27 July on ITV1, BBC One and BBC iPlayer.