Give England time after Ashes 'scarring'
The episode was recorded before the opening ODI but Cross also expanded on comments made during the T20 series by Edwards and stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont, who deputised for the injured Sciver-Brunt, regarding the team being "in transition". Cross said the comments were misinterpreted, and that Beaumont was most likely referring to the new coach, captain and style as opposed to a transition of new players coming through."I'm reading between the lines here because I haven't spoken to Tammy about it, but I think the transition is that we have changed our leadership roles, we've got a new captain, then we had a stand-in captain during the T20s."We're not silly – we know that we should be a better team than we are right now but also, we are still learning. Maybe I'm just asking people to give us a bit more time."We are under scrutiny, we know that. We are an international team. But we are still just working a lot of things out as a 'new' group."
These three ODIs are England's last before the 50-over World Cup starts in India at the end of September, though Sciver-Brunt's side will play the hosts and defending champions Australia in two warm-up matches. England's first match of the tournament is on 3 October against South Africa in Bengaluru. Hartley, a World Cup winner in 2017, agreed that expectations need to be tempered regarding England's chances in the tournament considering the recent turnaround in leadership, and that improvement would "not come overnight" after Edwards' appointment. She added that the 2026 T20 World Cup, which is being hosted in England, will be the right time to "expect bigger things" from the group. England's fielding has been subject to criticism throughout the series as a significant area for improvement but Cross added that some of the "narrative" from the press was not fair. "It's always what we have wanted. More media attention means more bums on seats, more ticket sales, more money into the game," Cross said."But it's really difficult to replicate the pressure you're under in a match, to a training session – no matter how hard you try, it will never feel the same as doing it in front of 10,000 people at Old Trafford or wherever."It's just not quite transitioning from training on to the pitch yet but I really don't feel like we are that far away from it looking a whole lot better. "The narrative is that we have to be perfect. No cricket team out there is ever going to have the perfect game, even when Australia are playing at their best they still fumble or bowl bad balls. It feels a bit like we are suddenly expected to be perfect and that doesn't feel very fair to me."
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
England and India deserve better - this box-office series is hobbling over the line while money men count their corn, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH
It says everything about a packed schedule, and even more about the state of England's Test pitches, that Ben Stokes and his team were lying low at their hotel in Kensington only 48 hours before the start of their biggest game since the 2023 Ashes. There was no training, no team announcement, no press-conference mind games ahead of a match that could deliver the most impressive series win of the Bazball era. Instead, the players were knackered, driven to exhaustion by administrators who have concertinaed the summer to keep August free for the Hundred, and by surfaces which have been 'kryptonite' to England's wearyseamers, as the former Test star Steve Harmison put it following the draw in Manchester. The irony as we await the toss at 10.30am on Thursday is that whoever wins it may feel obliged to bowl. You have to go back to April 2023, when Hampshire's James Vince said 'we'll have a bat', to find a red-ball captain at the Oval who bucked the trend. Since then, 20 matches — both county and Test — have come and gone, and everyone has fielded first. With good reason: Surrey like a bit of grass on their pitches, a bit of pace and carry. It's nine first-class games since the team batting first at the Oval finished victorious, and that was last summer when a powerful Surrey side beat Essex en route to a third successive Championship. It should, then, be the kind of surface England have been craving all summer, having banged their heads against brick walls from Leeds to Birmingham and from Lord's to Manchester. Yet a question remains: which of their seamers will be in any fit state to take advantage of a pitch that may finally help them? Their bowlers - including Chris Woakes - are exhausted, with August preserved for the Hundred, meaning games have to be crammed in Stokes prefers continuity of selection, but it is asking a lot of Jofra Archer to play three Tests in a row so soon into his comeback. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, meanwhile, were running on fumes during the last five sessions at Old Trafford, where 140 overs brought England just two wickets. Had Joe Root not dropped Ravindra Jadeja shortly before lunch on the last day, they might have been able to rest their first-choice attack with the series already won. Instead, they must contemplate bringing in any or all of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and, for only his second Test, Jamie Overton against an Indian team determined to leave with the 2–2 draw they believe their cricket has merited. And their resolve will have stiffened after their ever-prickly coach Gautam Gambhir took offence at Surrey head groundsman Lee Fortis's request to stay off the Oval square during training — the latest flashpoint. The prospect of England fielding a second-string attack is not ideal for a team trying to tick off a 3-1 victory. Neither will it impress the fans who have ensured a five-day sellout in south London to watch the series finale between two teams who have fought like maniacs. India, too, may stick to their pre-series pledge of resting Jasprit Bumrah for two of the five matches, potentially robbing a must-win game of another star attraction. This is not how a blue-riband Test match should be, yet the players are hardly at fault. Despite England's repeated requests for pitches with pace and bounce, chief executives at the Test grounds prefer surfaces that guarantee at least four days of ticket revenue, plus income from merchandise, food and beer. As one member of the England set-up told Mail Sport: 'I think they've made enough money out of us this series.' Groundstaff are overworked by a crippling schedule, their job made harder by the driest summer in living memory. To make matters worse for the bowlers, the Dukes ball has been going unusually soft. In all, England have bowled 5,366 balls. Only once before, in the West Indies in 1929-30, have they sent down more in four Tests, and those games were played to a finish — until the last match, in Jamaica, was abandoned as a draw after 10 days because Freddie Calthorpe's England team had to catch the boat home. If this five-game series had been given more room to breathe, so would the seamers. But the Hundred now has pride of place in August, and so the fifth Test must be over by the time the men and women of London Spirit and Oval Invincibles clash at Lord's on Tuesday. Inevitably, bowlers on both sides have struggled. When the pitches are green and the Tests over inside three days, this is less of a problem. When they are brown and dry, and tempers are flaring, and everything is repeatedly at stake in the final session, something has to give. This series deserves better than to hobble over the line.
South Wales Argus
3 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Lauren Hemp praises 'unbelievable' support for Lionesses
The 24-year-old was ever-present in Sarina Wiegman's line-ups for the tournament and was able to soak in the support as England drove up to Buckingham Palace in their open-top bus. With performances from Burna Boy and Heather Small, the party did not stop for the back-to-back European Championship winners who brought the celebrations, and football, home with them. 'We hope we made so many more fans proud of us. We know the support's been incredible,' said Hemp. 'As a group we all realise the difference it made to England and to football when we won the Euros in 2022. We hope for the same to happen again. 'I've had so many messages that my phone just keeps pinging. Thank you to everyone, I'll get back to you at some point.' And just as the atmosphere on The Mall showed the support for the Lionesses back home, they had also enjoyed immense travelling support across Switzerland. In Basel for England's penalty shootout victory over Spain, thousands flocked to be part of an hour-long fan walk that snaked through the city before witnessing the Lionesses lift the Euro 2025 final. '[The support at the final] was incredible. Every time we went forward, you could hear the crowd and it was such a good atmosphere,' added Hemp. 'I couldn't even hear my teammates next to me, so it was unbelievable.' That support and the resilience of the England team helped Hemp and her teammates over the line in a closely-matched final. Spain had taken the lead through Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey in the 25th minute before Alessia Russo levelled after half-time. With neither team able to find a breakthrough, it was to penalties once more for the Lionesses who had made a habit of leaving things late and putting fans through the ringer. But despite the occasion, Hemp assured that the belief never wavered within the squad. 'The fight this team has shown from minute one of the tournament to now, it's incredible and it's nothing short of what this group deserves,' she said post-match. 'The grit, the determination we showed, it's not luck. It doesn't happen once, twice or three times for it to be luck. This is pure determination from this group. 'Whoever stepped up, we knew was going to score, but especially when Chloe stepped up for that fifth penalty, I knew it was going in and yeah, damn it did.' Returning to London, Hemp was able to celebrate the history of an England team who have become the first senior team to win a major tournament on foreign soil. And as Heather Small's rendition of 'Proud' rang out from in front of the Victoria Memorial, there could not be a better representation of the feelings at full-time in Basel. 'I was so speechless,' said Hemp. 'It's incredible and like I said, it's what this team deserves. 'We deserve to be winning all the time and it's incredible that it's not only happened once, it's happened twice and it's staying home and hopefully long may it continue.'
Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
As queer women, we couldn't be more proud of the ‘Lesbian-esses'
I've never been into football. At school, only boys were allowed to play, while girls were sent to the netball court. And as I got older, I just associated it with rowdy men — like the friend of a friend I watched the 2021 Men's Euros final with, who got so annoyed when England lost he threatened to throw her TV out of the window. As a queer woman, I've never felt encouraged to get involved, and I didn't see anyone like me on the pitch. But then came the Women's Euros this summer. At first, I wasn't particularly engaged with it, but when the invite to watch it at the pub dropped in the lesbian group chat, I thought, why not? And I'm glad I went. When Chloe Kelly's winning pentaly hit the back of the net, lesbian couples kissed, women embraced, and queer friends jumped up and down. I wasn't in an LGBTQ+ pub, but there was community everywhere. This wasn't just a win for women. It was a win for the queer community. Across all the teams that played in the Euros, there are reportedly 78 openly LGBTQ+ players and coaches. In the 2022 Men's World Cup, there were none. Even now, not one player in the Premier League is publicly out. Lionesses, past and present, like Jill Scott, Beth Mead and Jess Carter, have spoken publicly about their queer sexualities. And while other players have chosen not to label themselves in the media, many are rumoured to be dating women. The team has even been dubbed 'The Lesbianesses'. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! It all feels especially meaningful, particularly after rainbow armbands were banned at the men's World Cup in Qatar 2022 — and just months after FIFA confirmed the 2034 men's tournament would be hosted in Saudi Arabia, a country where LGBTQ+ rights are non-existent. Women's football is leading the way. Not just on the pitch, but in the community it creates, and it's having a real impact on women like me. Despite never being a huge fan of football culture, Mia Walters, 24, from Manchester, started watching the women's World Cup and was 'hooked from there'. 'I grew up in a family of football fans, but I never really felt like that was the space for me,' she tells Metro. 'As a queer woman, it doesn't always feel like there's a big space for us within society, like there is for queer men.' However, when watching women's football, she says 'the energy could just not be more different.' 'The Lioness games really provided that safe space. It feels like it's tailored for women and queer women.' She even travelled to Switzerland to watch the final. 'Seeing families, female couples and groups of friends meant it was so easy to feel integrated. 'I've been out for five years but I still don't always feel 100% comfortable being openly gay in public with my girlfriend. The matches have been the only places I 100% didn't worry about holding my girlfriend's hand or kissing in public.' Metro Lifestyle reporter Eleanor Noyce agrees the community around the Lionesses is buzzing with pride. Eleanor, who is bisexual, she says: 'Some might say as long as they're bringing it home, it doesn't matter how the Lionesses identify — but it means the world to me. 'I'm a life-long Arsenal fan, and while I'm a massive supporter of the mens' team, I feel more at home and accepted at Arsenal women's games. To watch England and know that many of the players on the pitch are part of the LGBTQ+ community is everything. It's not just about the sport, but the representation too. 'Other queer women get excited about couples within teams — there's fan accounts dedicated to the likes of Beth Mead and Vivienne Miedema. Society has sexualised queer women for such a long time, but now we're celebrating queer love on our own terms.' Eleanor, who also watched the Lionesses in Sweden, watched Sunday's final at the pub. She adds: 'It was a rare occasion when I was sat in an average pub in South London, surrounded by queer women. 'When Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty, a couple in front of me kissed, with a Pride Progress flag pinned behind them. It just felt normal, and I've never experienced that before.' Eve Kirman, from Norwich, plays grassroots five and seven-a-side football in London. She grew up playing in boys' teams and later for Norwich United. While playing football was one of her 'biggest passions', she ultimately gave it up, as it didn't seem like a viable career choice for women. Today though, Eve still plays in local teams, where she says there is 'a level of openness' about queer identity. 'That trickles down from the Lionesses,' Eve, who is lesbian, tells Metro. 'They've created a really accepting, amazing vibe. We joke about bringing our WAGs to the sidelines of games to support us. 'When players are open about being queer, it sends a message without needing to say anything. More Trending 'There's just a real sense of joy that comes with being unapologetically yourself, having fun and doing something that you love.' However, Eve adds that there's still a way to go in terms of inclusivity. 'We have to reflect on who is being left out,' she says. 'The FA recently decided to ban trans women from playing in women's football. There's definitely more that can be done.' Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: Readers dispute Barton's claim that England Lionesses aren't 'worthy of equal pay' MORE: 'I am a Lioness super fan, and I'm getting tattoos of seven players on my calf' MORE: Why Lionesses hero Jess Carter missed England's Euro 2025 trophy parade
